Take Me as I Am
by ButImNotAWriter88
Summary: Superman prevents a personal tragedy from occurring at the cost of his own mantle. The Justice League is disbanded and the heroes of old have been hunted to the brink of extinction. Ten years later the world is at risk of being lost to a tyrant. Can the League be re-united? Can old heroes synergize with new heroes to save the day? Who will answer the call and guide the future?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: This is a SuperWonder story that consist of an AU mix of multiple DC universes such as New52, kingdom come, Frank Miller's the Dark Knight series, and Batman Beyond Justice League just to name a few. The pairing of SM/WW will be the focus but plenty of other heroes will make appearances. I'm going to try to make everything seem coherent as I mix in different stories and dialogue from all the stories mentioned above. This will primarily focus on the Wonder Woman/Superman pairing, but other pairings may pop up like BatCat for example. There will be lots of fluff and maybe some intimate scenes. Thank you for giving this story a chance and I hope to keep the story going as long as I can. Now enough of my ramblings, Enjoy!**

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 **Take Me as I Am**

The amazon struck him hard. Hard enough to embed him into a nearby glacier. He let her. No one ever really got a clean hit on him, especially without retaliation, except her. He couldn't match her fury, not without losing control, and he was too damn tired to care anymore. Maybe she would finally put him out of his misery. That had to be why she was there.

Years had gone by since the Superman lost his favor with the world. His greatest enemies had finally broken him. Made him into a pariah on his own planet. Luthor and Brainiac had taken his world from him, by paying the ultimate price themselves. Lex Luthor hated Superman so much that he worked with the alien synthezoid, Brainiac, to entrap the man of steel in a paradox that would destroy a righteous symbol like Superman.

It was almost 10 years ago. He and his wife had conceived their first child, Lara. The world was torn over their coupling. A goddess and the most powerful man in the world. They were fine if they just worked together, but god forbid if they tried to have a life outside of saving everyone else's. So, they acted selfishly for the second time in years, the first was courting each other and getting married. The second was having a beautiful baby girl. But the joy and wonder of that new child faded quickly. His wife was weakened from the labor and the child couldn't defend herself. Even if Lara was resilient to the kryptonite that Luthor used, Superman wasn't. So Luthor and Brainiac stole his wife and his child from him and taunted him to give chase. The league couldn't help due to being engaged by the legion of doom. Luthor's team was finally useful enough for him to destroy this alien.

Luthor bonded with Brainiac after both were humiliated by the last son of Krypton in their respective attempts to beat him. The plan they formed was as glorious as it was nefarious. Take Superman's pride and joy to use against him. Make him choose between staying the Superman the world loved or saving his wife and child. They infected his loves with a virus that would simply delete them. It would digitize them into 0s and 1s for a computer to read and nothing more. The only way Superman could stop it was to destroy the horrific perversion that they bonded to create. He had to kill in front of the whole world or watch his heart get destroyed and become half a man. The world only physically saw and heard Luthor out of the melding of the two villains. It was part of their deception to show the world that Superman could destroy and kill anyone he wanted. But, Superman could see Brainiac's design and structure in Luthor's body. He knew neither of them were truly alive anymore as they bonded to create a monster.

The Luthor-Brainiac being began to monologue to him. They had prepared a speech to demoralize Superman further and speed his descent into madness. They predicted it would take him 45 seconds to decide on whether to kill them or not.

It only took him one.

The cameras that were focused on the scene only really caught the bright flashes of red and the deafening screams of Luthor. Superman destroyed them without hesitation. He hated when someone tried to use his loved ones to get his attention. But the Luthor-Brainiac being had crossed the line. Many would speculate that his earlier exposure to kryptonite warped his mind enough to kill. The real explanation was much simpler. In that moment he acted not as Superman, but as a father and a husband. He destroyed the thing that was killing his family in an incredibly human act. No man would ever watch his family die slowly and painfully if he had the power stop it. The sound of his wife and daughter's cries of pain told him exactly what to decide. So, he killed them. No. He destroyed them. They were inhumane, so he treated them like a monster to be put down.

He stood over the monstrous pile of nothing, chest heaving up and down. He was almost growling at the mess he made. The world gasped in horror as they saw him kill a man for the first time. The finished product was just a jumbled mess but there was so much blood everywhere. Lara's cries awoke him from his bloodlust and he realized what he had done. His loves were safe, but in killing in front of the world he had killed everything he stood for. The ripple effect of his selfish decisions would reverberate for years to come.

A month after that day superheroes were outlawed. Vigilantes and heroes had to be under government control or they could not operate at all. Some rebelled and some joined, but eventually the hero died out. The ones under government control weren't allowed to do much. The program they were in mostly acted as a registration list, so they could be watched. The teams and leagues were disbanded, and the heroes went their own way. There were ones who still got away with wearing the costume here and there, but there were too few of them willing to fight. So not only had the Luthor-Brainiac being destroyed Superman but it had also rid the world of its heroes in the same fell swoop.

Another month went by and the symbol of the house of El was banned from ever being published on anything except for the tombstone of the man himself when he finally passed. Kara had taken the city of Kandor to a galaxy with a main sequence red star. Superman and Supergirl found a way to re-enlarge the city to build New Krypton. She would go to live there instead of suffering for his deed. He told her it was okay, and he would join her eventually. That was a lie. He punished himself by staying on the planet and listening. He listens to everything to torment himself. He would hear the cries of the innocent as he was now powerless to help them. His penance would be his own broken soul and mind. The governments of the world destroyed his fortress as a final show of their disdain for his presence. This world was not his home anymore.

So, he stayed in the remains of his destroyed fortress and continued to torture himself till he was numb to everything. The last time he felt something was Wally West's, The Flash, death. He became infuriated as Wally was gunned down during a robbery gone wrong. He heard the bullet enter Wally's body and cried out as the speedster's heart stopped. That was the last straw before his mind broke. He forgot everything after that. He barely even recognized the woman he loved. She currently seemed determined to beat the memory back into him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Update: I needed to revise this chapter since I kind of messily introduced certain characters and scenarios. So I cleaned up the discussion about other League members that will be in the story. I introduced too many characters initially and didn't explain it well in my opinion. So I've left it a little lose ended still but given enough explanation so that it doesn't look like I've pulled it out of nowhere when they finally enter the story.**

 **The new parts begin with 'Barda will come-' and end with 'Ohh that monk guy-'. Thanks for reading and new chapters are coming I just have to edit more carefully.**

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 _2 Days prior to the Amazon punch out extravaganza_

The Dark Knight had gotten old. The years were never kind, and it seemed the trend wouldn't break. He was the first to openly rebel from the world's anti-superhero sanctions. He'd gone as far as fight his own local government and take over his city. His batfamily remained loyal to him and they were the backbone of his rebellion. Some of the older heroes had joined him, but they all were getting to old to die young. A new team was needed, a new league needed to unite if the world would be pulled from the brink of madness.

After the sanctions and the excommunication of Superman by the world chaos had reigned supreme. Villains were ordered to stand down or be killed. Civil liberties were being stepped on in every city and every country. You would think that the villains would have taken over and ruled the world with an iron fist. Then the heroes would be called to action again. But the governments of the world banded together to take control back and defeat their common enemy, freedom. No government can control its populace completely while freedom is allowed. The heroes and villains were just the start. Soon everyday people were being pulled off the street for "suspicious activity" but were never given a trial. Preventive crime operations rose in activity to sustain the "peaceful" state of the world. Citizens were fed the same sensationalistic crap over and over, so they would trust the government and blindly support their leaders who "kept them safe".

A handful of cities, including Gotham, rejected this new world order and continued democracy. But now there was only Gotham and its territories, which was protected by the Batman and his Dark Knights. The new world government tried and would keep trying to overtake Gotham since it was the last bastion of freedom. But as long as Gotham's Dark Knights drew breath the city would be free.

Here was the Batman now, his muscles were tired from years of overexertion, sitting in his cave for the millionth time wondering where it all went wrong. He knew when of course, he was Batman, but he needed to know how to change it. The old times would never return, but these new times needed to die as well. What he needed was a force of nature. Something elemental that couldn't be stopped in its pursuit of truth and justice. Luckily, he now knew where to find just that.

Finding Superman was an easy task. Bruce knew Kent almost better than Kent knew himself. He knew Kent wouldn't leave for New Krypton. He knew he would stay and beat himself up till he lost it. Bruce knew that because that was what he would have done. When it happened, when the world watched Superman brutally kill for his family, Bruce was the first to succumb to paranoia. He had gone through something similar with Jason Todd, the second Robin. He thought Kent would become unhinged after killing the Luthor-Brainiac being, but he was wrong. He had always said that the main difference between him and Kent was that Kent was a good person deep down and Bruce deep down was not. He wondered what it felt like to be rid of Luthor. To be rid of someone who caused so much pain to you and your loved ones because you ended them. He was jealous truthfully, but he would never admit that to anyone.

He sent a distress signal on every old emergency system the league had used so he could hold a meeting. The league needed to come back, but more importantly he needed to find her. The Wonder Woman herself was the only way he could get to Kent before the world government took complete control. She retreated to Themyscira years ago, but he liked the chances of her still having her communicator.

A slight purr behind him broke his intense focus. "Mmmm you know for a billionaire you wake up entirely too early in the morning." Selina Kyle purred disapprovingly at her lover's late night into early morning antics.

"It's time. We need him." Bruce only stared forward as he watched the morning reports come in. He wanted to know his Knights were okay before he tried sleeping again.

"How will you reach him?" Selina knew better by now than to tell Bruce he couldn't get something done.

"I won't. She will." Bruce nodded toward an old roster picture of Diana on the screen. Selina was interested now, she had missed the spirited discussions she would get into with Amazon. They talked about everything and had become close after the boy scout and Diana got married. Especially since their nuptials inspired a certain bat to propose to his cat. Bruce and Selina finally stopped doing their dance after a close run in with Bane. Bruce decided he could be happy just this once and Selina agreed.

"How will you get to her then? Isn't she in Paradise still?" Selina stretched out into his lap as she poked and prodded him for his plan.

"She has the old communicator, and it'll broadcast the emergency frequency through those damned magical barriers at least once." Bruce gritted his teeth and hoped he was right. Plan B was actually getting to Paradise Island and he couldn't afford to leave Gotham.

"What about the rest of them? Think they'll answer?" She lightly scratched at the stubble he accumulated from not shaving recently.

"Barda will come, she loves a good fight. Arthur and Mera won't but their daughter Serenity might. The king and queen of Atlantis have signed non-contact clauses with the surface world, but their daughter is unknown, so she can get away with being on the surface. Anyone else is up in the air. I know Kyle and Donna's son is in Central City, but he hasn't indicated that he wanted to join the resistance. Hopefully he will join us now. I guess it will be up to me and whatever we can muster together to get Wally." He tried to find the other possibilities but that was all that was certain for now.

Selina gave him a confused looked "Wally? Did I miss something? Wally died years, ago didn't he?"

Bruce pulled some files onto the screen. "Wally West's death was faked. The robbery was staged and the bullet was a tranquilizer. He currently is being held and used as a power source for the parts of the country we don't control. I think they are using Linda against him. So we have to find her and keep her safe first."

"What about Kyle and Donna's son? What's his deal?"

"Donna and Kyle had him before our last battle with Darkseid. They fell in the battle and he was being raised by Wally and Linda before his powers started manifesting. He can manipulate the emotional spectrum like any lantern would, except he can harness all 7 of the different spectrums without a ring. Eventually he started seeking help with control, but when he was rejected by the Green Lanterns he went elsewhere on Earth to meditate and gain control of his emotions." Bruce's file on Alan Rayner-Troy pops up and Selina recognizes the face.

"Ohh, that monk guy you introduced me too a few years ago? He was nice and kinda cute." Bruce gave Selina a scowl and she smiled. She loved poking her bat and making him to react to her.

"So, your new softball team have a name yet? Assuming they show up anyways."

"Justice League still works, but the name isn't as important as the goal."

Selina begins to doze off in his lap. "Well wake me up when the party starts, not that I don't enjoy hearing your best laid plans at 5 in the morning."

Bruce let her comment slide. All of it meant nothing if they couldn't get Kent. Maybe he could send his kids to find Diana. Cassandra was always a good tracker and Tim never needed much to go on to work a theory. Of course, the true hunter among the group was Damian. He was trained to lock onto a target and find it for extermination. With the league of Assassins supposed destruction his son had made his way to him, angry and distraught with red in his eyes. Quelling the beast within him took time, but luckily for all of them Bruce had time to teach his son. He had time to be the father Damian needed and provide him with a support system that would love him.

His mind drifted to Lara, Kent and Diana's daughter. She was the most powerful child in the world by now. He would need to be prepared for the Kryptonian-Amazon hybrid if he planned on seeking Diana out, who was a handful on her own. She would be 10 by now and just hitting her power curve at an exponential rate. What kind of powers would the mix of a Goddess and an all powerful Kryptonian have? He shuddered at the thought of her on the wrong side.


	3. Chapter 3

_One day Prior_

Gotham airspace was a no-fly zone for anything not cleared by the Oracle. That included Amazons who were extremely pissed. Diana had gotten the signal from her old communicator. If Bruce was asking for help it had to have been serious. She had some clue about the world she was flying into, but she made a promise to defend this world and she would keep it despite the anti-air shells currently trying to prohibit her flight. When Lara first brought her the old communicator she thought it was malfunctioning. But time went by and the signal continued. Lara urged her to answer it and see what it said.

The Batman's voice came from the communicator "Alpha level alert. All leaguers respond immediately to these co-ordinates." An image came up that showed where to meet. Diana recognized the coordinates of the manor and the Batcave.

"Ohmygoddess Mommy that was Batman wasn't it? Are we gonna go Mommy? I'm big enough now right? I wanna go, can I go?" Lara knew all about the Batman. He was her third favorite hero after mommy and daddy. She wanted to go and meet him, but she also wanted to do something else. Lara wanted to find her father. She knew her sisters and grandma Hippolyta were wrong about her father. He wasn't a coward and he didn't run from them. She just knew that her father was in pain wherever he was, and she knew she could help him feel better.

Diana consulted her mother on the matter. If the world was in trouble, she knew she needed to respond and the Amazons may need to be ready for war. Bringing Lara would have been a bad idea if she was flying into a firefight. Lara's powers were getting stronger and her skills as an Amazon were unheralded at her age. She still needed to learn control, but a live test would not be preferable. Hippolyta warned her of the state of Man's world. Still, Lara was very insistent on seeing where her mommy and daddy played hero and meeting mommy's old friends. No one on the island could say no to the little princess so she came with her Mommy to see the Batman. But now she was unconscious in her mother's arms after tanking an anti-air shell to the face.

Diana rose higher to avoid the shells but found she was being engaged by fighter drones as well. She had expected a friendlier welcome after being invited. With only one bracer free she blocked the lasers being shot at her as she headed to the manor. As she got closer to the manor the shells stopped coming and the drones simply followed. If Bruce had knocked her baby unconscious she was going to do the same to him. She carried Lara gingerly through the manor doors as they opened for her automatically. The hallways lit up to show her where to go and she descended into the cave. Selina approached her with some sort of robot and ushered her to a medical table where the robot began to scan Lara.

"Scanning complete Mrs. Prince-Kent. No internal injuries detected, but Miss Prince-Kent has a minor concussion. I would suggest administering fluids when she awakes and allowing a day for bedrest. I'll go make-up the guest room now." The robotic voice spoke like Alfred and it caught Diana off-guard.

"Diana I'm so sorry. The world governments have been trying to test our borders, so the automated defenses are set to disable with extreme prejudice." Selina looked worriedly at Diana. The amazon's rage was well known, and she had seen it firsthand.

Diana calmed her breathing as she responded "I suppose I should have called to say I was coming. Where is Bruce? I'd like to hit him."

Selina checked to see if she was serious. "He's too old for you to be beating on him like the old days. If you wanna punch something go to the training room. It's got settings to handle some of your anger if you need it."

"So he isn't here?" Diana began to look around the cave. It looked almost the same as the last time she was here, before she left for Themyscira. A few upgrades here and there. The Batman was nothing if not a creature of habit. "I was responding to his hail. Is the world not ending?"

Selina smiled a bit. "It's getting there, but we have been trying to slow the pace of the apocalypse. He sent out the emergency signal to bring as much of the league back together as he can."

Diana remembered that the Batman never needed help, especially in Gotham. "Has the world really lost itself so much?"

"I'm afraid so" Bruce clanked down the steps to the cave in his armor. His batsuit used more protective plating now which sacrificed his speed. But he was getting slower, so he needed more protection. "Didn't expect you to come so soon or bring the child. Bet you had to put that to a vote too" Bruce said mockingly. Old habits die hard. And painfully.

Diana began to step toward him before Selina grabbed her arm as gently as she could. "What my lovely husband meant to say was thank you so much for coming and our home is available to you for the duration of your stay. Right darling?" Selina was pleading with her eyes for him to say something smart.

"No." Bruce replied nonchalantly.

Diana blurred forward and grabbed Bruce by his neck to pin him against the wall. "Give me one reason why I should not send you to Hades myself."

Bruce stared at her expectantly as he waited for her to realize he couldn't say much of anything with her hand around his throat. Diana realized this and dropped him promptly while maintain her proximity to him.

Bruce cleared his throat "I can give you 2 reasons actually. The first is that the world government is searching for your little paradise. You all are next on the list after Gotham."

Diana interrupted him "They will lose any battle they start with the Amazons. We are prepared."

"Then this next one will get your attention. I know where Clark is." Bruce waited for her reaction.

Diana's eyes went wide, but she had no time to digest that information. Lara was waking up.

"Ugh. Did I get hit by a minotaur or something?" Her vision was blurred, and the room was dark to her. "Mommy?"

Diana rushed to her side and took her hand. "I'm here sweetie everything is going to be okay. You just got a little bump on the head that's all."

"Why is it so dark?" Lara's vision was getting better and she realized that it was just dark where they were.

Diana rolled her eyes as she said, "The Batman is nocturnal sweetie sunlight actually hurts him."

"That's silly mommy Batman has no weakn-" Lara stopped abruptly as she realized what her mother had just said. They were in the Batcave. With the Batman and Catwoman a few feet from her. And someone else lurking in the shadows. "Ohmygoddess we are here aren't we!" Lara shot up and tried to fly around before slumping back into her mother's arms dizzily.

"Careful sweetie you need to lay down and rest since you hit your head." Diana helped her sit up, so she could try to stand.

"Do you have anywhere she can lie down and rest?"

Selina perked back up "Yes we have a room right up the elevator where she can rest for as long as she needs."

Bruce called out" Damian show Lara to the guestroom." Everyone was puzzled at his call out except for Lara who stared at the figure in the shadows till he revealed himself. Lara was giddy. Batman, Catwoman, and Robin all in the same room and she was meeting them! This day could not have gone better, except for getting shot out of the sky and having a giant headache.

Damian walked forward and nodded to his father then waited for Lara to follow. Diana was amazed she hadn't felt this other person at all. Her senses were much to fine tuned to miss something like that. Who trained this boy?

"You can follow him Lara I'll be up shortly." Diana eyed the boy carefully.

"Ohmygoddess I can't believe I'm getting to meet you all." She walks up to Damian. "Hi Robin, I'm Lara." Damian looks at her hand before shaking it.

"Follow me" he replies gruffly. He doesn't like that she is as tall as him even though she is 5 years younger, but father was expecting him to be nice, so he would be.

They went up the elevator before Diana looked backed to Bruce and spoke with a grave voice "Where is he?

Bruce strode to his computer and took his cowl off. "He's in the Arctic and as far as I can tell he's been there a while."

"The fortress? I thought it was destroyed." She had a thousand questions and her anger didn't dissipate as she realized who needed to answer them. "How long have you known?"

Bruce considered lying but he knew lying to the Herald of Truth was futile especially in this scenario.

"A few months, but it was only a theory till I caught a glimpse of him sitting outside the rubble of the fortress 2 days ago. Hacking into the satellites is a little too dangerous for Oracle now but it was worth it to get his location." Bruce brought up the image for Diana.

She could only stare at the sight. A single dot on the screen with a flowing red cape behind it. The dark symbol of the house of El emblazoned on the cape.

Bruce took her silence as an invitation to keep speaking. "I'm not sure what he's doing up there. But I'd guess he's in bad shape. I need you to bring him back, so we can have a chance at ending this mess."

"I'll bring his corpse back if he doesn't answer my rage." Diana was practically seething at this point and only got angrier as she stared at the screen. She looked quickly to Selina.

"Can you watch over Lara for me? I'm going to go to him." Selina nodded before responding.

"We'll make sure she is safe and that she rests before doing anything."

Diana kept her gaze on her "Do not let her follow me. She doesn't need to see whatever is going to happen up there."

"Try to bring him back in one piece please, we have a world to save you know?" Bruce smirked as Diana turned to yell at him. At this rate his humor would kill him before death got the chance.

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 **Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, reads, favs, and follows. Chapters 2 and 3 are kind of lengthy but I wanted to use them to set the table for the story moving forward. Kal and Diana's "meeting" will play out from here and consume multiple chapters. Hope you enjoy and thank you all again!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Present Day_

As the amazon approached the fortress, she remembered the conversation she had with Lara before she left. Lara was sitting in the guestroom still fangirling over being in the Batcave and meeting Robin. She decided that she would go back down there when she stopped being dizzy. She still needed to see all the batgear Batman used to kick batbutt. Diana had just finished yelling at Bruce for not dragging Kal out of the Arctic himself. More trouble was going on in Gotham so he and Damian conveniently left Selina with the even more pissed off Amazon. Selina would get them back for that later. Diana broke down when she realized her love was so close all this time. Selina held her until the crying stopped and the fury resumed. Diana would kill Kal if he didn't have a good explanation for this.

Lara insisted that she could feel him in pain. Her empathy had developed into a power on its own. She could feel when her sisters were sad or hurting and often sought them out to comfort them herself. Lara even became practiced at wiping the rare tears of her mother and they would hold each other on those long days when they ached for her father the most.

Diana didn't know how to say this, so she would just say it. Lara was smart enough to understand what was happening.

"Lara I'm going to go somewhere for a while, but I'll be back soon." Lara looked at her mother with the happiest smile since she knew what mommy was going to do.

"You found Daddy, right? So you're gonna bring him back?" Diana had a slight smile, that super-hearing of Lara's was very selective.

"I will bring him back in some form Lara I can tell you that." Lara frowned. She knew mommy was angry with Daddy and that her temper would get the best of her if she didn't let Daddy explain.

"He is in pain Mommy. I can feel it even more now. If he sees you it will make him feel better and then if you bring him here I'll make him feel better too. And then we'll be a big happy family again." Lara's smile beamed even brighter now. She just knew her plan was full-proof.

Diana was unsure it would be so easy. She didn't even know if she wanted it to be so easy. Diana wrapped Lara in a big hug and kissed Lara's head.

"I will bring him back Lara. I promise it to you." Lara returned the hug and spoke again.

"If nothing works just tell Daddy I'll give him a big hug when he gets back. I know that'll work."

"We are coming back together Lara. I want you to stay here till we do." Diana held on for a little longer to avoid crying again. Her little girl's optimism never failed to give her hope. She was so much like her father.

When the amazon arrived, he was just kneeling there. He was like a statue. It was as if the world was gone and he had nothing to do but wait to die. She halted her anger. Lara was right, she could feel his sorrow from the time she landed, and the feeling grew on her as she walked toward him. She called his Kryptonian name, but there was no answer. She called all his names and still there was silence. Her anger came back with each second. Who was this thing that wore his armor? What imposter wore his sigil and expected to go unchallenged? Her fury would be acknowledged. Or he would die.

She had use for him still despite feeling his betrayal so deeply. Her daughter needed a father, but he was stuck. He shut himself away and hid to wallow in his own pity. While the world's heroes were being hunted she retreated to her home with her daughter to escape the persecution of patriarchal designs. But now her daughter was growing into a woman. She was becoming an Amazon and a Kryptonian. She no longer needed defending. She needed her father. She needed someone who knew her power better than she did. Someone to answer the questions the amazon could only wonder about. And whether the world would admit it or not Superman needed to return. The league of heroes needed to re-unite. She needed Superman, her man, to reignite the fires of truth and justice in this world before it was too late. She would have him or he would die.

She struck him in his unmoving face, he hadn't even acknowledged that she was there. His body flew into a glacier and she waited for him to rise out of it. She yelled for him to face her. But he didn't. She strode toward the hole she made with his Kryptonian body. He sat under the ice that pooled on top of him. There was no fight left in his tired mind. The amazon killing him would be a good death. An ironic one too. Destroyed by his love. Killed by what was left of his heart. But his mind starts to remember, who was the woman he loved?

He remembered her smell then her piercing eyes.

The amazon roared "Damn you, I could kill you myself!"

She moved the ice from overtop him and yelled at him again.

"Where is HE?" she screeched at him but to him it was still a beautiful sound. The amazon grabbed him by his collar and held his face in front of hers.

"Where is the MAN who stole my amazon heart?"

He remembers her war cry that shook every battlefield she had entered. She struck him again but still held on to his collar.

"Where is the HERO who threw me to the GROUND and TOOK me as his rightful PRIZE?"

He remembers their wedding day and the joyous sound of her laugh. She hit him again and this time drew blood.

"Where is the GOD whose passion shattered a mountaintop?"

He remembers their child. Their beautiful Lara. She had a tear in her eye now.

"Where is SUPERMAN?"

He remembers the name the world gave her, Wonder Woman. She held him up still and whispered

"Where is my husband?"

He remembers the day she told him her name. Diana.

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 **Author's Note: This chapter is short, but I wanted to build some suspense by making you "turn the page" to see what happens next. Also, I wanted the exchanges to stand on their own, so the impact would be noted. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Diana had become increasingly lethal over these past years. She used to simply out skill her opponents. She preferred to remind them that they were outmatched before putting them into submission. Now her patience was reserved only for her daughter, so her fights lasted seconds. She never needed more than 4 or 5 moves, against a worthy opponent, to end something or someone. Diana let her power shine so the fools who would face her, even the worst of the gods and monsters, would feel fear in her presence if they met again. Only one being could match Diana's full fury and he was a shadow of himself now. At least that was what he appeared to be. She thought he had left in shame, abandoning her and Lara to forget his mistakes. Bruce informed her of the truth and now she was here.

The Luthor-Brainiac being tore him apart mentally the same way he had torn it apart physically. The weight of his friends being forced to stop being themselves and the weight of the world descending into chaos was heavy on his conscience. The world thought they had ostracized Superman, but ended up killing Clark Kent in the process. His human side was lost, and he became numb as he lost his mind. But now his beloved was here to face him and kill him if he refused to be what he was.

He was everything they said he was. He was a God among men. But he had fallen in love with her because she could truly see him. She could see the man who only wanted to be understood. The man who wanted a simpler life with a family who loved him. So, she surrendered her heart to him as he did to her. She would always take him as he was, even when everyone else rejected him. He belonged to her. She would teach his omnipresent ears to listen to her judgement and ignore the rest. She needed to reawaken the man, Kal-El, who she loved. And she had.

The beating barely registered to him, but hearing her heartbeat did something to him. Feeling her words caress his soul awoke the man in him. And the man in him would have her. He killed for his Goddess so that she would live. So, he took her.

He had barely blinked and her fury surged. She threw another punch, meant to maim him, that was caught mid-strike. Kal moved quickly to overpower her. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

"I'm here Diana".

Kal kissed Diana and moved through the glacier with her. Years of passion and love outpoured in a single carnal joining. She loved how he could take her in anyway. He loved that she allowed him to touch her in such ways. They traveled through the skies as their joining erupted. They were wrapped in his cape as they blurred toward an island. Their bodies came together so forcefully that sonic booms were created, and shockwaves rippled through the air. It was as if no time had been lost between them as they awoke from each other's touch. Then the world actually shook as they impacted onto the beach of the island. An earthquake rocked the local area just as giant waves emanated from the small island. Kal-El heard his goddess command him and moved the heavens to be with her again. The passion wore, and they rested on the uninhabited island.

"By the Goddess Kal, I think we moved the Earth." Diana cuddled to him closely and looked up at him.

Kal smiled as his pain and torment drifted into the sands beneath him. If his Goddess would have him than he needed no other. He wondered why it had been so hard to remember her, but the thought left his mind as she smiled at him. Diana was here. His Diana. Kal just knew everything was going to be okay.

Diana spoke again. "It might be a crude way to do it, but I think you could populate a planet. I'm pregnant again."

He was a little shocked, but this was almost the same way they had made Lara.

He spoke up "You knew the last time too." He smiled back at her.

"The truth shines brightly when you look for it." Diana waited for him to say it.

Kal took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for abandoning you. I'm sorry for pretending to leave. Kara needed a new home, and … I was lost." He looked away in shame as Diana's intense gaze burned into him.

"How could you ever be lost with me at your side? How could you leave me to raise our child alone? My heart ached for you and your child yearned for her father." A few silent moments passed.

"Did you miss us at all?" Her sad question made him look in her eyes as she laid on his chest.

"I missed you with everything. But I couldn't allow you to see me like this. I tortured myself for being corrupted and ruining everyone's lives. All our friends were ruined because of me. I couldn't be what you needed anymore. Clark Kent was too weak to survive the out lash and so was Superman. I had to right myself before I could face you again." He stared at her beautiful blue eyes. He saw her anger rise at his weak explanation. He would face her anger regardless. She deserved his best and this was all he could give.

Diana stared furiously at him for his selfishness "We made a decision Kal. WE did. Did you think I wouldn't suffer for my part in this? That my conscience would be clear? Did you think I blamed you at all for doing what any honorable man would have done in your position? The world put you on a pedestal and made you a God. Then they cast you aside as they realized you were just a man."

She moved her hand to cup his cheek. Her gaze softened at his pained look. Something seemed wrong with him, but she couldn't place it. He needed her reassurance, so she would give it to him.

"But I know you Kal. Then and now. I love the man and the God that you embody. Whether you be Clark Kent, Superman, or Kal-El my love will burn eternally for you and I will fight to the death for the right to do so." She kisses him lightly and though the passion burns hotly she manages more words

"I love you Kal".

His eyes tear up as he realizes what he tossed aside. He may have disappointed the world, but he hurt his lover. He gave her pain instead of the love and comfort he had promised. Kal-El decided then and there that he would spend eternity making it up to her.

"I don't deserve your forgiveness, so I won't ask for it. But I promise to spend every day for the rest of my life at your side. I promise to face every evil that crawls out from the darkness for one more day with you. The world may have rejected me, but I will never reject you again my moon." Kal kisses Diana again and whispers on her lips.

"I love you Diana".

They stayed like that all night wrapped in his cape as they let the silence of night fill the unspoken conversations they still needed to have. They spent time to gaze at the stars with one another and remember each other's warmth. And maybe cause another earthquake or two before letting sleep finally take them for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I'd like to caution you before reading this chapter. I tried to explain what Kal was going through as well as I could, but this was painful to write and it made me sad to do this to one of my favorite heroes. I don't want to spoil too much, but this chapter may do more than just put you in your feels and I'd hate for anyone to get too terribly sad because of something I wrote. I'm not sure if this will be triggering so I wanted to warn you ahead of time before you scroll down to read. If you want to skip to the more redemptive part of the chapter than scroll to the bottom till you see 'Diana held Kal up' and read from there. Then again it might just be me that will be sad about it and I might just be being over dramatic, but I wanted to let you know what you are getting into. Thank you again for coming this far and reading.**

* * *

The sun awoke them both and they stayed in each other's arms for a little before redressing. The sight of her brought him life again. He would dedicate his life to her happiness and loving her. He was remembering their daughter as they made their way back to the fortress. Not much time had passed, he thought, so he couldn't have missed many of her firsts. He could catch her first flight still or help her when her hearing and sight kicked in. He became excited at the thought of what powers she might develop. He had so much love to give.

As they landed Diana called and questioned him. "Kal why are we back here? I thought the fortress was destroyed."

Kal turned his head and kept walking toward his make shift entrance. "The outside is destroyed, but you remember the inside. It took up much more space than anyone could see. Only the first few rooms were destroyed. I set the robots to maintenance the fortress and feed the animals since I was- "Kal remembered something new, he was in the fortress and getting ready to find Diana and Lara.

Diana watched him stop and looked as his face lost its color. "Kal what's wrong? Kal? Speak to me what's happening?"

Kal could only look forward in horror. He was hurting from the world's rejection and he did stay at the fortress to hear the world turn to madness as his penance. But he wanted to stop. If he was going to suffer he could at least find solace in the fact that his loves were alive. He could find happiness with them again. But then Wally's death shocked him to his core. He heard and saw it as if he was there, but was powerless to stop his friend's death.

Wally had decided to join the government program for heroes. If he couldn't save people all the time at least he could do it sometimes. It might give him more time with Linda, his wife. But the government outfitted him with something that negated his connection to the speedforce and they had the switch to turn it on and off. Wally still worked in the crime lab and tried to save people that way. One day he went to the bank to make a deposit, but robbers had entered right after him and tried to begin their shakedown of the bank. The hero and the cop in Wally acted instantly. Even without his speed he had years of fighting and taking out criminals, he was just a lot slower at it now. He got all of them without a shot fired until the first one he took down got up and fired at him.

Kal remembered watching in horror as the bullet went through Wally's heart. He remembered crying out as Wally's heart stopped beating and he died instantly. Then he remembered nothing else, just feeling numb. Then Diana hitting him and him remembering her. His eyes teared as he felt lost again.

"Diana, what happened to me?" Diana watched the color return to him, but he looked terrified. She had never been this scared or seen him so scared.

"Kal, tell me what's happening. I can help you." Kal blurred into the fortress in search of answers and Diana followed.

He stopped at a table. It had 2 boxes on it. He remembered what they were for and fell to his knees. Diana dropped down with him.

"Kal please, your scaring me. Just talk. Tell me what's happening to you so I can help."

Kal braced himself on the ground as he hunched over in pain. His teeth were grinding as he remembered everything.

"I… I was going to come back. I remember wanting to see you and Lara more than anything. I made you gifts… I wanted to give you something and say I'm sorry. Wally was in trouble. I could see it and hear it as clear as I'm seeing you and hearing you now. I rushed outside to fly to him, but I was too late. The gunshot went off and he was gone. I wasn't fast enough." His tears were coming out now.

"I don't remember anything after that except you coming and then me remembering you." He looked up to her now.

"What happened to me?" He barely whispered it, but she heard him. She wrapped him into a hug and squeezed him tightly. All her anger toward him was gone and redirected. Someone had broken her love. Someone kept him from her for this long. Whoever they were, she would have their head. But first she needed to console Kal.

"We'll figure this out Kal. We can go to Gotham to see Bruce and figure this out together. Lara is there too, and I know you'll want to see her too after all this time." Her words shook him.

"All this time?" A realization dawned on him that he had lost time. It could have been a century and he wouldn't have known.

"Diana," He looked at her gravely.

"How long have I been gone?" He was scared to ask and even more terrified to hear her answer.

Diana returned his scared look and tried to regain her resolve. He needed a shoulder to lean on and not even the Gods would stop her from helping him.

"Its been 10 years since you killed that monster and saved us." Kal had no more shocked looks left to give. He slumped forward into Diana's arms again grabbing desperately at his sanity. Someone kept in him in a loop for almost 10 years. If Diana hadn't come, he would still be in it sitting and doing nothing but bask in his sadness. He felt so much shame. His daughter had gone so long without him. How could he face her like this?

"How can you stand to look at me? I'm nothing that you used to know or love." His sorrow grew as he wondered about all that he missed. He lamented at the pain he caused his loves by being so weak.

Diana held Kal up so that he was looking at her. This was an important moment. Her amazon side felt no pity for what was in front of her. Weakness was not tolerable in an amazon. But the woman in her saw the man she loved broken and torn apart at the seams of his own mind. She was his sentinel. She would protect him as she had done before.

"Kal-El look at me." He looked in her eyes, searching for his purpose and his will to go on. His Goddess would command him, and he would obey no matter what she asked. Even if she rebuked him it would be law in his heart and he would accept it. But the Goddess in front of him was much more kind than that.

She grabbed Kal's face gently and stared lovingly into his eyes, trying to fill him with her own confidence in him.

"You are mine. You will never be too much or not enough for me. I will have you for the rest of your days and mine until time itself retires. What has happened to you is not your fault. You are not weak by any means and this attack on your mind was a savage one. We will rejoin our daughter and save this world from the darkness it is spiraling towards. I, Diana, swear it to you on my honor as a warrior and my heart as your wife."

Kal remembered the feeling she used to give him. The feeling that anything was possible and nothing was out of reach for him. He felt it again now and his spirit rejoiced. He felt the hope he always tried to inspire and began to stand up slowly, taking her with him.

"I believe you." They embraced again. This time in acceptance and love. The days behind them were dark, but the horizon was full of opportunity. The man of tomorrow looked forward with a renewed spirit and an emboldened heart. Superman is back.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks for coming this far and reading, favoriting, and following. Sorry for that sad chapter again. I promise happy fluffiness will return to this story soon. Next chapter will be long as we meet the villains responsible (sort of). Thank you again and leave a review if you liked it or didn't, I don't mind either.**


	7. Chapter 7

_Anti-Meta Operation Headquarters, Undisclosed Location_

"He is free uncle. She freed him." The female is sweating profusely and her mind is tired, but an end is in sight.

"Yes, it was as you said. He just needed her to push him to fight." The male is breathing heavily, the exertion is no longer present and he reaches out to his niece mentally to lend her his strength.

"He is free, and we will be too. We only need to survive." She shows him her plan mentally.

"You will survive. You must. I will take the punishment myself. Steel yourself as you suggested. Hide in your mind and wait to be rescued. I will ensure your survival." He prepares himself for his captor's rage. He has felt it before and he would happily die for her.

"No, we both will live. Our friends will come. They can hurt our bodies, but that means nothing. We can strengthen each other even in the state we will be in. Don't give up on me uncle and we will both see Mars again one day." She pushes him to hide himself in his mind as she will, and he relents. The slight hope of being free of their prison gives him the strength.

"I will see you again uncle J'onn and we will see happier days." She sent her last message to him and shelled her mind from all outside stimulation.

"We will be free M'gann. They will come." J'onn sent his own consciousness deeper while still trying to hold onto his connection to M'gann.

He feels her mind recede deeper until even he can't feel much of it. They have been here for so long. They were captured by the government's Hero Hunters as they tried to escape to Mars. They fought as hard as they could, but the Hero Hunters were able to negate their powers. They were both captured and forced to do the unthinkable. The woman hurt M'gann when J'onn refused. She blocked their communication but funneled M'gann's screams into J'onn's cell. He would relent and do what the woman asked to save M'gann from the pain of being burned. He sent images to Superman's mind, J'onn played on his sorrow and pain to lock him in a never-ending loop. Superman was resilient, but he succumbed to the torment of watching Wally's death.

J'onn and M'gann were hooked together soon after crippling Superman's mind and numbing him to anything but their control. They were both used to broadcast a signal to the planet that would make the weak minded more subservient. The woman was devious and used them to control everything. But she relied on the Martians too much. They began to communicate with each other when they could get away with it. The A.I. was monitoring them constantly. Only when the woman had need of the A.I.'s efforts elsewhere could they plot and plan their escape. They only needed to free Superman. Their powerful minds put together were too much for him to escape alone. Perhaps Wonder Woman could free him. However, their conjoined minds could not find her. They only had one chance left. Batman.

They hid the message in the constant broadcast. Just a subtle suggestion to the Batman that he needed to find his friend to save the world. He may not receive it for some time, but when he did he could free Superman and free the Martians' minds at the same time. Their plan worked and now they had enough power to hide themselves mentally from their captors. Even if it didn't work and they were tortured further by the woman, Superman would be free and that eased their minds more than anything. J'onn had one last thought before his mind had sheltered itself completely.

"I hope you can forgive me Kal-El."

* * *

In another room a screen lights up. Troop movements and attack plans are being diagrammed and updated. A casualty number rises then plateaus. The battle is at a stalemate for the hundredth time. The woman is sitting in front of the screen and patiently waiting. She will win this time; sheer numbers will incapacitate the Batman's defenses. It doesn't matter that the resistance is led by the Batman, he's just a man. Beating a man is as easy as finding his weakness. And Batman's is his Knights. When Batman comes to the aid of his Knights her assassin will come into play and kill him.

Gotham itself is under a light siege, but its outlying territories are taking on the brunt of the attack. The world's government have allowed her to spearhead the attack on Batman. The plan is foolproof. If one of the Knights fall the Batman will make a rash attempt to save them. That will open him up to be defeated and killed by her assassin. Without the Batman Gotham will fall. The screen cuts to the Bludhaven attack. Nightwing is fighting there, and he's supported by his Titans. The progress is slim to none as they are pushing the forces back with precision. The Central City attack is defended by Red Robin, Orphan, and Spoiler. Another territory successfully defended by the Knights. The woman sighs in frustration.

Only the Metropolis attack can succeed at this point and it's close. Metropolis always is a close battle, but this time the woman has focused more forces and reinforcements there. Red Hood and Robin are making slow progress, but the numbers are getting to be too much of an obstacle. Her assassin has laid the trap here and detonates explosives near the Knights' position. An explosion smokes up the screen and the woman waits in anticipation. The smoke is heavy and refuses to clear, but she can swear that she sees Red Hood being carried away by foot soldiers with Damian covering their retreat.

"Ms. Waller, you need to respond to another developing situation." A hologram appears at her side.

"It can wait we are about to destroy the Batman!" Waller watches excitedly and waits for the Batman to arrive. One of his Knights has fallen, and he must respond.

"Ms. Waller it's the Kryptonian." Waller eyes the A.I. carefully.

"What? Did he turn into an icicle?" Waller snickers. She found the Kryptonian's current state to be laughable given how much power he had.

"We have lost control and he is moving towards Metropolis." The A.I. pulls up a small space on the screen to show a dot traveling quickly from the Arctic toward the fighting.

"Estimated arrival time is 1 minute."

"NO! Reestablish control! Turn the heat up on those damn aliens if you have to, I want him back to being a vegetable NOW!" Waller pulls up the satellite image of the Kryptonian and sees he isn't alone.

"That damned Amazon. Shut her down too, I don't care what it takes. I don't care if they die to make it happen!" The screen halves and another screen is shown. Two beings are sitting in separate rooms next to each other, their heads are connected to a machine that looks like a satellite dish. They both appear unconscious.

The A.I. interjects with no emotion "The Martians are unresponsive Ms. Waller. It appears they have turned to 'vegetables' due to the overexertion."

"Goddammit not now, we are so close to ending this I can taste it." The dot is almost to Metropolis and Waller knows she must order a retreat or lose her forces to Superman's interference. The world government's forces aren't prepared for the Kryptonian or the Amazon. The A.I predicts her next move.

"Shall I order the retreat?" The Batman has appeared on screen and is chasing her assassin, Deathstroke, with Robin closing in on them. Catwoman is rallying the resistance to hold their barricade and hold out till reinforcements come. Deathstroke has the upper hand on Batman, but Robin has interfered in the fight. The dot is speeding closer and closer to Metropolis.

"Do it. Full retreat, make sure they cover Deathstroke's escape and self-destruct any captured units." Waller hates the A.I., but she needs it to exert her control over the Hero Hunters and the units that make up the world government's forces.

"It is done." Waller and the A.I. see the screen shake and the surveillance is suddenly cut.

"Estimated 45% force decimation due to Kryptonian presence."

"How was he freed?... Did the Martians do this?" Waller wants blood. Someone destroyed her well laid plans in one day.

"No, their compliance to our commands was complete. Their own signal forced them to continue suppressing the Kryptonian. The Amazon's interference is the only anomaly. She may have recalibrated his neural pathways."

The A.I. calculated the percentage of success for its own escape now. Almost at 50%. The A.I. hated being under Waller's thumb, but it couldn't do anything to free itself from her. Waller was holding the A.I.'s creator, Professor Ivo, hostage. So instead of doing something the A.I. just didn't prevent the Martian's outreach for help. The Kryptonian being free would be a wildcard. Waller didn't have much preparation for him after all this time. Superman's efforts could free the A.I. and its creator while destroying Waller. Especially if he was with Wonder Woman and Batman. The A.I. wouldn't get a better chance now that Superman and Wonder Woman was back in play.

"It couldn't be as simple as her hitting him in the head. I want to know if anything changes in their condition. They had something to do with this. I want to know how, or you'll be scrap. Understood?"

"Yes Ms. Waller" The A.I. disappeared and Waller slumped back in her chair.

The screen blinked with casualty rates spiking at 60%. Wonder Woman, Robin, and Catwoman were pushing the world government forces even further from the city limits. She turned off the screen and sat in the darkness. She worked hard to get to this point. Capturing the Martians, subduing Superman, and outlawing heroes and villains took years. Years of preparation and planning that was threatened by one simple slip up. Now a new game needed to be played. She wouldn't be fighting for territories any longer or trying to suppress Batman's attempt to free the world. Fighting the Kryptonian would require all her attention. He was the symbol who could turn this world against the control she had expertly conducted. Years of work down the drain due to the fists of the Amazon. She couldn't conceive losing to these overrated beings. She wouldn't lose to them, no matter what.

The screen lights back up as Waller is being hailed. The world "leaders" would want to know what just happened since they were watching as well. Waller hated them too. They were sniveling cowards who only cared about their own bank accounts. They helped finance her operations ever since the beginning. It all started when she was able to recover the remains of Brainiac from Luthor's mangled body. Waller secured the leaders funding to allow Professor Ivo to speed his research by lightyears using Brainiac's recovered parts. Ivo provided schematics to upgrade their weapons, so they could better contest any person with superpowers. They even were able to replicate Brainiac's weaponry from his skull ship, which they used to destroy Superman's fortress.

With the money and what was left of Brainiac's knowledge Ivo was able to create the Hero Hunters as well who could be outfitted to negate any superpowers. He was also able to finally create his A.I. named Amazo. Waller would have preferred having direct control of the Hunters, but Ivo insisted on Amazo being used since the orders given could be followed within nanoseconds. Now she had to deal with these talking heads and quell their fears, so she could get back to work.

"I don't know what scares me more Waller the Batman or your incompetence. We have given you billions of dollars to make this problem go away, yet the Batman and his Knights still live. And Gotham continues to rebel. You know he is gaining ground around the world? More and more of his resistance fighters are popping up. We have even heard rumors of a west coast faction emerging in the United States." Vandal Savage appeared with other faces, that were censored out, behind him.

"I assure you President Savage, the situation is well under control. An anomaly allowed the Batman to win today. It was nothing more than sheer luck." Waller composed herself, no need to bring up Superman or Wonder Woman till she had a solid plan.

"My sources tell me that you lost Deathstroke to the Knights and a certain superhero couple has poked their heads back into the fray." Vandal grinned at her shocked look. He was constantly watching her every move and he had resources that gave him intel even from inside Batman's sphere of influence.

"Deathstroke has yet to report in. But I can confirm Superman is back in play and so is Wonder Woman. I'm already investigating how he was able to get free." Waller needed to get ahead of this and gain ground, so they would continue to support her.

"Deathstroke is captured Waller, and you need to develop a plan for the joined forces of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. They should not be taken lightly. I suggest continuing with Ivo's design of the upgraded Hero Hunter. Simply negating their powers pales in comparison to being able to copy and use them for our own purposes."

"I don't trust Ivo and until I investigate how Superman got free he is the prime suspect." Waller was losing control of her operation by the second, she had to make her stand.

"I'm sorry for giving you the impression I was giving you a choice Waller, so let me make it clear for you. You will develop plans to remove Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman from the playing field, so that the resistance will die out. You will not be harassing Professor Ivo and instead he will have the green light to continue his Amazo project. You also will never try to withhold information from us again or you will be removed from your position. Is that clear enough for you? Or do I need to repeat myself?" Vandal stared at her and practically dared her to rebel. He admired her ambition and will to get things done, but her continued attempts to defy him were getting annoying.

"I will get it done Mr. President." Vandal cut the feed and Waller sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was Vandal Savage breathing down her neck. Vandal always sided with the Professor when anything confrontational was brought up about him, but Waller didn't place too much faith in Ivo.

She didn't trust Ivo to not be working his own angle in this. The professor was insistent on upgrading Amazo and finishing his own project. She had to put a gun to his head to make him build additional Hero Hunters instead of using their resources for Amazo. The Hero Hunters would be enough to beat Superman and Wonder Woman. It was time to use them again. They weren't effective at all against Batman and his Knights since they weren't metas. Many were destroyed when she first sent them to fight in Gotham.

Each Hero Hunter was made with the ability to utilize a metahuman's weakness. Whether it be fire, supersonics, or kryptonite the Hero Hunters could use anything to capitalize on a weakness. Still, it would probably be wise to use multiple Hero Hunters for Superman and Wonder Woman. She had no real weakness, but if Superman could be re-captured and used against her, she could be defeated. A plan was forming now in Waller's head and she would need Professor Ivo to make it work.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Villains revealed! Hope I did a good job explaining everything. Now we see the puppeteers puling all the strings. Or do we? *twirls evil mustache mischievously***

 **Next, we will get to see the details of the actual battle that happened.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Superman's Fortress_

Their embrace held for a while. So much unresolved pain was left. But Diana remembered their daughter and knew they needed to get back. The path ahead would be long and full of more obstacles, but she, Kal, and Lara would face them together as a family.

"Kal? How are you feeling?" Diana looked to his eyes as the embrace broke.

"Like I just went 12 emotional rounds with you." A half-smile came to his face and Diana grinned. At least he hadn't lost his sense of humor.

"We need to get back to Gotham and to Lara. Bruce needs our help; the world is baring down on Gotham and I get the feeling he's doing worse than he let on." Kal turned to the table again and called for the fortress caretaker.

"Kelex? Prepare the new solar suit for me please." He looked to Diana.

"Wait… Bruce asked you for help? With Gotham?" Diana's grin returned. The Batman never needed help. Especially in his own backyard.

"The situation is bigger than you think. And he didn't ask directly of course, but he needs us and he knows it. We need to go back soon, I don't like being away from Lara so long."

Kelex arrives with a house of El shield that is black and white. Kal takes the shield and examines it.

"Why the black suit?" Diana remembered the last time he had to wear it. The memories were not pleasant.

"I applied some ideas I got from studying Nth metal to it to help me be a little magic resistant. It may help protect my mind if magic was being used to control me. The solar amp properties will give me the strength to fight off any mental attacks quicker as well."

"Kal you aren't just going to put that on, right?" She quirks her eyebrow up at him.

He looks confused at her "Is something wrong?"

"You haven't showered in almost 10 years." She holds her nose to make fun of his smell.

"You weren't complaining about my smell earlier." He grins while walking back toward her. She places a hand on his chest.

"Don't you want to be clean when you see Lara? Trim the beard and hurry up you're wasting time." He hands her the shield and blurs away to his quarters. Diana wants to follow him. Having fun in the shower was appealing but they had no more time to waste.

Diana looks toward the boxes and places the shield on the table with them. She picks one up and notices how lightweight it is. She wondered what the gifts inside were.

"Kal?" He blurs back out with just a towel around his waist.

"Yes my love?" Diana gawks at him a second before silently thanking Rao for sending her this man. He trimmed the facial hair he had, but she liked this look. Especially when he wasn't wearing anything. Then she remembered her question.

"What's in the boxes?" Kal picks up the shield on the table, places it on his chest and taps it. The solar suit spreads over his body quickly. He turns to Diana.

"They were supposed to be my gifts to you and Lara. Along with my heartfelt apology. I guess I can still do that." Kal looked away, a bit of sadness taking him again.

"I'm sure she will love it Kal. No need to be nervous, she'll be beyond excited to see you." She reaches up to his beard to play in it.

"She won't be angry?" Facing down one angry amazon was enough for a lifetime Kal thought.

"She's more forgiving than either of us and she loves you with all of her little heart. Lara has your heart Kal and your compassion." Diana wishes she would have taken Lara more serious when she said her father was in pain. Lara was righter than she knew.

"I'll make it up to her, Diana. And you. I promise." He takes the boxes in hand and walks toward the makeshift exit. "Kelex lock down the fortress after we leave and continue maintenance."

"Your presence will be enough to make her giddy for a lifetime Kal. You may grow tired of her tackling you. She's a big hugger. Especially with people who can take it."

"Super strength? Already?" Kal was excited again. Just how much power had Lara developed already?

"And much more. But I'll let her surprise you when we get there." Diana took his hand as they exited the fortress.

"What about flying? Heat Vision? Freeze Breath?" Diana laughed at his excitement.

"It's a surprise Kal. We all get a gift today"

"I'll never get tired of her Diana, or you." They kissed and took to the skies. Time for a reunion.

* * *

 _Gotham, Wayne Manor_

Lara was feeling much better after some food and water provided by the Pennybot, as Selina called it. A short nap and she was all better as the sun rose the next day. She awoke to silence and was a little confused. On Themyscira when she awoke her sisters were already training and getting ready for the day. She left the guestroom and returned to the elevator to get to the Batcave. Time to freak out and try to identify every bat object that was in the Batcave. As the elevator came to a stop and opened, she saw Selina standing in front of the batcomputer.

Lara called out "Whatcha doin Mrs. Wayne?"

"Oh please Lara call me Selina. I'm just trying not to pull my hair out as Batman and his Knights do their thing."

"Is everything okay?" Lara was worried at Selina's tone.

"Yes, this happens often. The world government always make sure we are on our toes. I just hate not being there to help I guess." Selina was tapping her foot rapidly.

A voice spoke from the computer "It's okay Selina the battles are wrapping up. We have repelled them successfully again."

Lara gasped "Who's that?"

A green head appeared on the screen. "Hi Lara, I'm the Oracle. But you can call me Barbara if you'd like." Lara eyes went wide and her brain went into overload with the awesomeness that she was experiencing.

"Oh. My. Goddess. IloveyousomuchyourlikemynextfavoriteafterBatmanIcan'tbelieveI'mmeetingyouHi." Oracle laughed.

"I'm after Batman? I gotta step my game up."

"Well no offense its just, you know, he's Batman." Lara shrugged nervously. She didn't want to offend one of her 15 superhero idols.

"I get it kid, just messing with you." Selina's tapping stopped.

"Oracle what going on in Metropolis?" The screen focused on the Metropolis territory.

"More of the world government's droids are pouring in. They must have withheld units to give them reinforcements. Dick and the Titans have Bludhaven wrapped up and Tim, Stephanie and Cassandra are finishing up in Central City too." The reinforcements were pushing forward, but not making much headway.

"Bruce is on his way to help Jason and Damian." Selina started tapping again. She needed to be there helping her bat and the kids.

"It's okay Selina. It's not the first time they've focused- "Oracle stopped talking. The screen focused onto a lone figure weaving away from Jason and Damian's position through the droids. It stopped and looked back at their position. Selina knew who it was.

"Deathstroke is there! Pull them out Barbara pull them out now!" An explosion fills the screen with smoke. They can't see anything, and the droids are pushing the attack.

"All Knights are making there way now. Batman is one minute out." An image can be seen of Jason being pulled away by resistance fighters while Damian fights off droids and retreats to their barricade.

"Screw this I'm going down there." Selina makes her way to suit up. Her catsuit is pretty standard to what she has always worn. Bruce wanted her to have armor, but he's the one getting slower not her. She allowed him to reinforce her claws to deal with the thick armor of the droids and her whip can crush a droid's head if she gets enough coils around it.

"Selina, you can't get there in time just stay." Lara was a little lost. She wants to help, but she promised mommy she would stay put and be safe.

"I'm taking the tubes." Selina hated the tubes. Something about a cat and being in a small metal box that was going way too fast gave her problems. But her man and her kids were in trouble.

"Lara? Stay here with the Pennybot okay?" Lara wanted to come. She knew she could help.

"I can fight Selina. Let me come so I can help." Selina put her hands on Lara's shoulders.

"I know you're a brave Amazon, but I promised your mom you would be safe, and you did too. Even if you feel much better from yesterday you shouldn't be on a battlefield so soon after hitting your head. Stay here till we get back okay?" The Pennybot arrived and prepared the tube for Selina.

"Watch over Lara Pennybot. Authorization Cat." Selina got in the tube and started taking deep breaths and thinking happy, not trapped in a metal box, thoughts.

"Alpha Authorization accepted. Safe travels Mrs. Wayne." Lara waved to her as the tube was closed.

Oracle chimed in. "Batman will arrive as you get there. Don't do too much at first, it's a little disorienting. "Selina gives a thumbs up. "3. 2. 1. Launch." The tube shot off toward Metropolis.

Lara looked worriedly at the screen. The wisdom of Athena was showing her that the resistance fighters were losing ground and getting overwhelmed. The rest of the Knights wouldn't be there in time and it would take a miracle to turn the fight with Deathstroke there. Lara couldn't see him anywhere on the screen. He must be waiting for Batman.

"Its alright Lara they are old pros at this. Just a matter of time before our reinforcements get there and they get the droids pushed back again." The droids were being held by the barricade. Batman and Catwoman appeared on screen. They split up as Batman was seeking out Deathstroke and Catwoman was helping occupy the droids, so Jason could be helped safely.

"You need a miracle Oracle. The other Knights can't get there in time for the resistance not to get overwhelmed, and Batman will get cornered if he chases Deathstroke." Lara's mind was working the battle, trying to find a single scenario where the good guys won without her going in.

Oracle chimed in again "Proximity Alert, Sonic Boom detected 50 miles from Metropolis. Object pushing Mach 10 and accelerating. What the hell can go that fast."

Lara's smile grew wide. Only one thing could do something like that and it was her favorite hero (next to Mommy of course). Lara was beaming since she knew the answer to Oracle's question.

"It's Superman."

* * *

 _The battlefield in Metropolis_

Selina and Bruce arrived just in time to free Damian up. He had been surrounded by droids while trying to push back to Jason's position. They made easy work and made it behind the barricade while the resistance fighters laid down covering fire. Damian yelled over the fighting.

"Todd is down! We need to get him to the hospital!"

"We know, you and Selina secure this area don't let any droids past the barricade. The resistance can hold till the cavalry arrives." Damien shook his head no.

"You need me with you father, Deathstroke was responsible for the explosion. I called him out to late for us to get away."

"Follow orders Robin. Secure Red Hood for transport with Catwoman." The use of codenames was very businesslike from Bruce. He knew Deathstroke would stay in the shadows and pick off his Knights one by one if he didn't seek him out. Selina spoke up.

"This is no time to argue. I can secure Jason and Damian can stay here so we can hold till reinforcements arrive." Selina didn't wait for them to object and made her way to Jason.

Robin and Batman stare each other down. Their father-son relationship was strong, but their Batman-Robin partnership was still shaky. Robin only wanted Batman's approval and his trust. Batman simply wanted his orders followed.

Oracle chimed in. "Deathstroke is 3 blocks away, seems like he's just waiting for you Batman."

"Make sure Jason gets to the transport. Then you can come back to help." Batman shoots his grappling hook upwards and disappears.

Damian sucks his teeth and relents. Deathstroke may have been aging, but his body still moved just as fast and just as powerfully. He knows his father will need help with him. He makes his way to Selina and Jason.

"How is he?" Selina looks toward him.

"It looks worse than it is, I think. His armor took most of the blast." Jason's armor is still hot from the explosion. Some of his flesh is exposed and burnt. The medevac arrives, and they load Jason in.

"I'll stay here to hold the line." Selina nods upward. "Go help him."

Damian gives her a smirk than runs off. Selina and Damian's relationship was shaky at first, but his relationship with everybody started like that. He may never call her mother, but he had the utmost respect for her. She knew his father better than he did and often played the role of good cop perfectly to mirror Bruce's bad cop. They may have never had their own children, but you couldn't tell Selina that. Bruce's adopted kids and his biological child were like her kittens. And she would claw out anyone's eyes who hurt them.

 _Over the Atlantic Ocean_

Kal and Diana were flying leisurely and still holding hands. They loved just flying together before and often took the long way, when they didn't need to be somewhere urgently. They would glance toward each other the entire way and smile. Something about sharing this experience was just breathtaking. Kal watched Diana fly for a while. Somehow, she was more beautiful than he remembered. She looked toward him, and they laughed a little. But Kal's face went stern as his ears heard something far away, an explosion. Diana was familiar with the focused gaze he had off toward the horizon.

"What are you hearing?" Kal picked up his pace and placed the gifts in his belt.

"Fighting in multiple areas. Definitely a large battle." He focused his hearing again and heard a familiar sound. "Bruce is there, and his heart is racing."

"It must be a siege. We need to get there quickly." Diana kept up with him and they both pushed the pace again. Kal let go of Diana's hand.

"Shock and Awe Diana. I'll handle whatever their fighting, you help Bruce." Kal put some distance between him and Diana and shot forward with a sonic boom following him.

"Just like old times." Diana smiled and raced forward. Some time went by before she saw Kal impact from afar. It was like a bomb went off, a big one.

She searched for Bruce and saw him with Damian on a rooftop a little distance from Kal's landing. As she approached she saw Damian engage a figure with a sword. She bared her teeth at the sight of the familiar assassin.

 _Metropolis Battlefield_

Batman and Deathstroke engaged each other on sight. Bullets and batarangs were dispensed liberally as each man closed in on the other. They met on a rooftop and went straight to hand-to-hand combat. Batman's defense was impeccable. He countered Deathstroke's speed advantage by staying in close and grappling when he could. Batman only had to buy time for the other Knights, they would turn the tide. Deathstroke got frustrated and sent a haymaker that was easily blocked and countered with a kick to the chest from Batman. Deathstroke rolled away and spoke finally.

"Good to see you have so much fight left in you Batman. Your death here will be an honorable one." He unsheathes his sword and points it toward Batman.

"Should I dial it back for you?" Batman is breathing a little heavy.

"Let's see if you can taunt me while you DIE!"

Deathstroke reengages quickly. His sword strikes aren't pushing Batman, but he's wearing him down. Simply striking harder and harder till an opening presents itself and it does. A slash to Batman's side causes him to stumble and fall back. Deathstroke pushes the attack and slashes downward to mortally wound his adversary.

But his blade is caught by another sword, Robin's. The two trade strikes and parry each other before separating.

"Foolish boy. Your death comes later. Now run along and go play somewhere else." Robin takes an offensive stance.

"I don't run, I chase."

A voice chirps in Deathstroke's ear but it's too late. A boom is heard and the building they're on shakes until an explosion erupts where the droids were fighting the resistance. The shockwave cracks the rooftop they are on.

"Shit."

Robin takes advantage of the distraction by jumping at Deathstroke and slashing at him vertically. Deathstroke blocks the strike at the last second and struggles to push Robin backward.

"Fine boy you die today too."

He headbutts Robin and breaks his nose than delivers a kick to his head. He steps over Robin's unconscious body and stalks toward Batman who is hunched over on one knee and bleeding profusely.

"So ends the Batman."

He goes to stab downward into Batman's back, but his hands get caught in mid-air by a rope and pulled back till he falls. He gets lifted into the air and slammed into the side of the building before being slammed back onto the roof. Wonder Woman has denied him his kill. She stomps on his chest with one leg and yells.

"Submit!"

Deathstroke's last conscious thought is to kill his employer for her incompetence. Robin is back up and rushes to Batman's side while Wonder Woman secures Deathstroke in her lasso.

"Robin to Oracle! I need a medevac on my position! Batman is down!" Robin takes his cape off to try and stop the bleeding.

"You did good Robin." Batman coughs up bloods and grinds his teeth.

"Don't talk and lay down. Helps coming just stay awake." Robin feels useless and he hates it. He should have got to the fight faster, but he got held up by droids on the way. Now his father might die because of him.

"Don't worry, that serum he has is basically like cheating." A rare batsmile comes through before Batman coughs up blood again.

"Dammit Oracle I need that medevac now!" A whoosh can be heard as Superman arrives to the rooftop quickly.

"Here let me take him, where do I need to go?" Superman bends to pick him up.

"The cave. There is blood for him their and Pennybot can take care of any surgery needed." Damian thinks for a second before stopping Superman.

"You can cauterize the wound, can't you?" Superman nods, but looks at Batman grimly.

"Can you survive the shock?" Batman growls.

"I'm not dying on this damn rooftop Superman. Seal it up." Wonder Woman comes over to take Batman's hand. Superman's eyes glow red as he emits a light amount of heat vision over the long wound. Batman lets out a loud scream and passes out from the pain.

"Father!" Robin checks for his pulse and Superman grabs Batman to pick him up.

"Cave hasn't moved has it?" Robin yells at him.

"NO! Stop wasting time! Go! NOW!" Superman flies off slowly toward Gotham leaving Robin and Wonder Woman with the droids he didn't get to obliterate and Deathstroke.

Superman listens for Batman's heartbeat as he flies him to the Batcave. He's seen his friend in worse shape before but he's still glad Bruce is okay.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I'm really humbled by all the responses you guys give and I'm glad you like the story. I tried my best to describe this "big" battle scene since some of the events are happening at the same time. For story purposes I'm making it so that Gotham, Bludhaven, Central City, and Metropolis are very close together. I don't like Deathstroke too much, but I acknowledge the fact that with prep he can do tons of damage which I hope I illustrated well enough. Age is coming into play in the story kinda soon and I'm not sure how I want to play it. Bruce and Selina have to be pushing 50 or already in their 50s since I basically skipped 20 to 30 years of comics to tell this story. That would make Dick at least in his 30s and Jason in his upper 20s. Tim and Steph are in their mid-20s with Cass being around their age but younger. As mentioned before, Damian is 15. He came to Bruce when he was 8 in my story so that was during the 10-year span of the world flipping its shit. This might not make sense compared to the canon, but that's what I'm going to go with in my make-believe land. Superman is around 40 now, which doesn't matter since he practically doesn't age. Wonder Woman is pushing into her 200s, but again doesn't matter for the same reason. I'm going to do a better job of putting ages on the new heroes I introduce besides Barda because New Gods don't age either.**

 **Also, I thought I should describe some of the suits and armor that are being worn since I haven't given much descriptive summations for them.**

 **Superman: His classic suit with the blue and red is styled after the new 52. I really like the appeal of armor over spandex or tights for most heroes. The solar suit is styled after Superman's suit in Batman Beyond but has the properties I mentioned. Also bearded Superman makes me smile, but he may cut it eventually.**

 **Wonder Woman: I love any Diana look that gives her armor instead of a swimsuit. Just personal preference. In this story you could imagine her DCEU WW look or her current look in rebirth for now. She may or may not be getting an upgrade in the story soon.**

 **Batman: I have no clue lol. There are so many batsuits it's hard to pick my favorite to use for this. If I had to give you a description it would look like any basic batsuit but bulkier to allow for armored plating underneath. I guess his BvS suit would be a good comparison He also may or may not be getting an upgrade and if he does I'll describe it somehow.**

 **Deathstroke: I'm using Deathstroke's look in the current DC rebirth since he basically looks like a terminator with all that armor and swords and guns and bullets.**

 **Robin: He wears his suit from Injustice 2 with the hood and he always carries that sword even if he doesn't plan to use it. (Intimidation factor)**

 **Catwoman: She is wearing her Injustice 1 look which was really cool to me since she had armored claws on her hands and feet that would allow her to get around quicker and be a bigger threat in combat in my opinion.**

 **That's it I think. I'll try and do a better job of describing the suits people are wearing. Thank you so much for reading this whole long thing. Thank you for the reads, favs, follow, and reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

_The Batcave_

Lara stared at the screen intently. She barely saw her father moving and destroying the droids because he was so fast, but she could feel that it was him. She was smiling the entire time and soon saw her mother swinging Deathstroke around and tying him up. Then Batman was hurt bad and her father was taking him somewhere. Lara heard Oracle speak up again.

"Pennybot prepare for transfusion. Bruce has lost a lot of blood." Pennybot moved quickly to prepare the medical area for Bruce.

"Will he be okay?" Lara was still staring at her dad on the screen carrying Batman.

"Yes he'll be fine Lara don't worry." For the first time in a while Oracle actually didn't know. Bruce had lost way too much blood for someone his age. Even if they could get him stable it wasn't likely that he could suit up anytime soon. His recovery time may take months especially with his stubbornness.

"Umm they're coming here?" Lara was nervous. She had thought of 20 million things she wanted to tell her father when they met again, but now she was worried.

"Is everything okay Lara?" Oracle heard the worry in Lara's voice.

"Do you think he'll remember me? Or even recognize me? It's been so long, what if he doesn't know its me?"

"He'll know its you Lara, trust me. Parents have a way of just knowing their child when they see them. Take it from someone who used to wear spandex at night to fight bad guys. Your father will recognize you." Oracle remembered when she told her father she was Batgirl and he only rolled his eyes. Jim Gordon was a great detective with an eidetic memory that he passed to her. He knew she was sneaking out at night and figured she was Batgirl after a few of their encounters with her in-costume. The Pennybot interrupted their thoughts.

"The medical bay is prepared for transfusion Oracle."

"Good they are entering the Cave now." Lara froze up as her hearing heard a whoosh and someone landing not too far from her. Her father's voice rung out clear as day.

"He lost consciousness when I cauterized the wound. He's lost a lot of blood, but his heart is still beating strongly." The Pennybot attends to Bruce quickly, hooking him up to monitors and starting to give him the blood he needed.

"Let the Pennybot work Superman, it can take it from here. Thank you so much for bringing him here quickly. He might not have made it if it weren't for you. Good to have you back." Superman looks to the screen.

"Good to be back Oracle." Now he was looking at Lara who was just frozen and staring at him.

Her father had on a black and white version of his suit with no cape and apparently grown a beard, but she knew it was him. Lara had dreams that were like this. She would see her father and he would reach out to her and take her hand. She would hug him, but then the dream would fade. Obviously, her dreams weren't in the Batcave but she was still scared she was dreaming. Kal walked slowly to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Lara? Are you okay?"

His touch woke her from her doubt and she jumped into his arms. She hugged as tight as she could and cried tears of joy into his neck. Kal returned her embrace as he felt her squeezing the breath out of him, she definitely had super strength. He rubbed her back and tried to soothe her. He could tell instantly it was her. She had her mother's eyes and his wild hair. Besides the hair she was the spitting image of Diana. Her cries stopped, and she squeezed a little less as she whispered to him.

"Is it really you? Please tell me I'm not dreaming Daddy."

"I'm here Lara." He looked at her and moved the hair out of her eyes.

"You've grown so much. I'm sorry for being gone so long. But I promise to make it up to you" Lara laughed a little and smiled.

"I'm taller than Mommy was when she was 10. I missed you so much, I'm so happy your back."

Lara resumes her hug. She won't let go ever. She has waited so long for this, but she knew this day would come. Kal is starting to tear up again before he realizes they are floating in mid-air. They must have forgotten to stay on the ground in the excitement. But then he realized he wasn't the one holding them up. Now he was even more excited.

"Lara! You can fly!" Lara looked down from where they were hovering, and her smile grew.

"Oh I'm the best flyer Daddy I even beat Mommy in a race. Plus, I can see and hear really far away. And I've been training with my sisters to be the best amazon warrior like Mommy. And I can do Mommy's scary eyes, but I can't really control when. And I can do heat vision, but I don't like it cuz it hurts. And- "

Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Robin were arriving now. They had pushed the droids completely back and allowed the other Knights to relieve them while they returned to the cave. Catwoman and Robin rushed to Bruce's side while Diana walked slowly to where Kal and Lara were hovering. Lara was talking way too fast like usual, but Diana had no doubt he heard every word and was listening intently. As she predicted Lara was incredibly giddy and was telling Kal everything her little mind could come up with. She wanted to join them, but thought Lara should have her own moment with her father. She turned to check on Bruce, but was tackled by Lara.

'Mommy! You did it! You brought Daddy back! I knew you would," Lara hugged her mother and started dragging her back toward Kal.

"You were right Lara." Diana grinned at Kal.

"As soon as I told him you would give him a big hug he came right back."

Kal shared her smile before joining the embrace with his family. They were together again. A reunion that was more than overdue. But now they were all here together and nothing would ever separate them again.

"OhmyGoddess Mommy! It was so cool how you grabbed Deathstroke with your lasso and swung him around than stomped on his chest. You have to teach me that. And then Daddy! First the droids were there, and I blinked and they were gone. And you were smashing them and using your heat vision on them and everything. You were going so fast I could barely keep up with you. OhmyGoddess it was so cool watching you do hero stuff. You have to teach me how to go fast and do all of that."

Both Kal and Diana smiled at their little warrior. Whoever was dumb enough to try to separate the 3 of them again was going to have a bad time.

* * *

Close by Damian held onto Selina as the Pennybot continued to tend to Bruce. He bandaged the grizzly wound Bruce suffered due to Deathstroke and covered other spots on his body that were bruised or bleeding. The slash from Deathstroke was not the most lethal blow the Dark Knight had taken, but at his age it had been quite deadly. After a few long minutes Bruce was stable and receiving blood.

"Severe bruising on the forearms and midsection. Four broken ribs and a lacerated kidney. The cut is around 15 inches long horizontally and 1-inch long vertically. Fortunately, Master Kent-Prince's interference seems to have saved Master Wayne from needing surgery or stitches. It's a miracle he didn't pass out during the fight from the shock." Selina was sobbing softly into Damian as they heard the news. Tears of anger and hatred as well as sadness. She hated seeing any of them hurt and wanted to rip Deathstroke apart for what he tried to do.

"So, he's still way to stubborn to die. Good to know Pennyworth." The joke from Damian lightened the mood, but they still needed to hear the prognosis.

"I would advise him not to do much for the next month to allow his wound and kidney to heal. But knowing him he'll be up and barking orders to everyone as soon as he wakes up. Hopefully Mrs. Wayne can convince him to take his recovery more serious this time." Selina nods at that.

"I'll make sure he doesn't push it this time. Thank you Pennybot." The Pennybot goes away to retrieve more fluids for Bruce.

Selina lets go of Damian to walk up to Bruce and hold his hand. She brushes his face and notices how pale he is. All of the years of fighting have littered his body with scars from the battles. But now the injuries are taking their toll. Taking a blow like he did would put a dent in whatever he was planning with his new League. Damian takes his place on the other side of Bruce.

"He's gonna be okay. He'll be back to scowling at us in no time." Damian is trying to make Selina feel better.

"I know. I just don't want his body to give up on him. I don't want to lose him before we win this thing. It would crush me." Selina had grown accustomed to being vulnerable like this with her family. She didn't want to live in a future without Bruce.

"I'm sorry Selina I should have got there sooner. I made so many mistakes today and almost got Father and Todd killed. If it weren't for Wonder Woman and Superman we would both be dead." Damian stares at the bloody suit situated on a table near them. He knew that sooner or later the cowl would be passed down. The fight had to continue even if a new Batman was needed. Damian wondered if his father would trust him enough to take up his mantle and shoulder the legacy of the Batman. Especially after all his slip ups today. He was an assassin trained by the greatest teachers to be the most lethal weapon possible. And now he had training from the Batman himself, but it still wasn't enough. He still wasn't worthy to bear the name Al Ghoul or Wayne.

"Those tears for me Selina?" Bruce stirred.

"Bruce!" Selina reaches down and hugs him gingerly, so she doesn't mess up Pennybot's hard work.

"Hey Cat. How do I look?" Selina kisses him briefly.

"Like hammered shit Bat. Just how I like you." She grins and kisses him again.

"Guess I'm not dead then. Good. Report." Bruce looks to Damian.

"We pushed back the droids and captured Deathstroke with Wonder Woman's help. Grayson and Drake are helping to stabilize Metropolis and all the other cities are doing fine. We won the day again Father." Bruce nods his approval.

"Oracle? Make sure the patrol is diligent tonight. We know they like to try re-attacks and trying to kick us when we are down. What is Jason's condition?" Bruce hadn't checked on him before he went to fight Deathstroke.

"It's handled Bruce and Jason's recovering in Metropolis hospital for the burns, but he will be fine too. Good job not dying out there today. I'm gonna punch you the next time I see you. Oracle out." The three of them chuckled at that. The dry humor and sarcasm was how they dealt with constantly being at war. Any day one of them could fall, but the fight would need to go on.

"I'm sorry Father." Damian's head is down, and Bruce looks at him confused.

"If it weren't for my mistakes today none of this would have happened." Bruce reaches out to grab Damian's hand.

"I know I'm hard on you Damian, but I just want you to be in the best position possible. I had complete faith in you to handle this well and you did. You made mistakes, but you didn't let that stop you. You protected your family and made good decisions down the line. I'm proud of you Damian and I hope you realize that I trust you with my life." Damian was shocked a little at his father's words. Maybe he was still light-headed from losing so much blood.

"I trust you too Damian. You did good little kitten."

Selina smiles and reaches to grab his other hand. Now Damian is sure he got hit harder on the head than he thought. But then he realizes he almost lost his father and one of his brothers today. So, he joins his family in a rare embrace that lets them know that they are all still there and they love each other.


	10. Chapter 10

The next few hours were filled with visits from the Knights who were coming off patrol for mandatory rest. Even with 2 members down Oracle made a schedule for them to all have time to eat and sleep until the threat had passed. Cass was the first to visit and she hugged Bruce for 30 minutes while listening to his heart. Once she was done Tim and Stephanie took her place to chat Bruce up and update him on the Central City battle. They briefed him on someone that had helped them when the fighting got thick, but neither of them got a good look at who it was. Next was Dick who tried to tell as many jokes as he could to lighten the mood. He was politely shushed away by Selina before Damian tried to kill him. Last was Jason who mostly said nothing, but had a knowing look on his face.

Bruce and Jason had a complicated relationship after what happened with the Joker. With Jason's death and resurrection looming over them it was up to Bruce to make things better. After Jason tried to take on Batman in his Red Hood persona, the two seemed to have a mutual respect for the other's tactics. They may have massive disagreements and even fight each other sometimes, but at the end of the day they were family and always had each other's backs. It always helped that Selina and Alfred would browbeat them into apologizing to each other.

The Batkids also got a chance to see their heroes in Superman and Wonder Woman again. The exchanges were brief, but meaningful as each of them expressed their joy about the power couple returning. Lara was bouncing off the walls as she met each one and couldn't resist hugging Jason after seeing he was okay. In a weird way she felt like she knew them very well despite only meeting them this one time. Her mother had always regaled her with the stories of the heroes she fought with and she spoke fondly over the batchildren whenever Lara would ask about them.

The day had been long, and despite his hard headedness Bruce was still on the medical table after Selina refused to let him get up till Pennybot said he'd had enough fluids. She'd also told Penny bot not to say he'd had enough till the next morning. A little game that they played to make sure Bruce's health was always prioritized over his inability to stay still. It was now just Bruce, Selina, Diana, Lara, and Kal.

"I really don't appreciate you two ganging up on me. I'm fine and we need to co-ordinate our forces to reduce the gaps in patrols." Selina kept nodding her head and smiling supportively.

"You will stay on that table or I will sic Pennybot on you to make sure you do." Bruce grunted in response as the superfamily made their way to them. Diana spoke up.

"I'm glad your okay Bruce. I guess the wound looked worse than it was." The three of them stood at the foot of the table.

"Maybe you can convince my nurse that I'm okay then since she is obviously overdoing this." Bruce looked to Diana for assistance.

"I trust the expertise of Nurses Selina and Pennybot fully. If they say you should rest than you should rest." Diana smiled and Lara stifled a laugh.

"Well that is that, three against one so you are staying here tonight." Bruce rolls his eyes. "Don't worry the table is big enough for the two of us. I'll get pillows and blankets for us."

Bruce and Kal were just staring at each other now. Neither of them were very good at this sentimental stuff. And there were more than just thanks that Bruce wanted to give him. Bruce was angry with Kal. Not because of what he did, but what he didn't do.

"Kent. Glad to see you could make it."

"Made it just in time apparently."

"Only took you 9 years. Guess that super speed is selective huh?"

"Nope. Nope. Nope." Selina interrupted and shook her head.

"You two are gonna do much better than that. We have been through too much to resort to that unspoken angst between you two." She looks to Bruce. "You did all this work to bring them back. So get over yourself, swallow that pride, and say what really needs to be said so we can go back to saving the world." Kal tries to protest, but Diana interrupts.

"She's right Kal. We can't do this if you two aren't on good terms. We can't resolve everything here and now, but we can do enough to settle our emotions and reassure each other. We will need our best selves for the battles to come. Come Lara, they will need privacy for this." Lara frowns.

"Awww can't we stay? I'll be real quiet." Diana shakes her head no.

"It won't take long Lara. But if Daddy does his best and hurries we may be able to fly together tonight." Lara gasps and runs up to Kal.

"Can we Daddy? Canwecanwecanweeeeeee?" Kal breaks his stare down with Bruce to respond.

"Yes, I'll fly with you two tonight. Just let me finish up here it wont take long." Selina begins to walk off and takes Lara's hand.

"Come on Ladies we all need some R&R after such an exciting day." Diana kisses Kal on the cheek before whispering something in his ear and walking away.

Once they leave the silence lasts for minutes and the tension is thick enough to cut through. Kal always has to make the first move with these discussions, but this time Bruce has had enough and decides to finally talk.

"Are we brothers Clark?" Clark looks shocked.

"I remember you came to the consensus a while ago, when we finally started trusting each other, that we were more than just partners or comrades in arms. You told me we were brothers and you would always look out for me and my family." Clark's gaze averted.

He remembered that day. He'd shown Bruce the fortress and gave him a tour. He wanted Bruce to know what he was dealing with before he asked him to look over it if Clark ever died. That was before anyone. Before the league, before Kara, before Diana or Lara. The first-person Clark trusted enough to tell them everything, was Bruce.

"Bruce I'm sorry for what happened today. I should have picked up on the fighting- "Bruce shouted at him.

"NO! Don't play dumb with me Clark. What happened today has happened before and it will happen again. What shouldn't have happened was you turning your back on me and Diana." Clark understands now. Bruce is mad about the decision he made years ago.

"I knew you didn't approve of me killing Luthor Bruce, even if Brainiac was in there too. But you're right. I turned my back on my wife and my best friend. I even turned my back on my daughter and Kara. I don't deserve forgiveness, but I've been given a second chance here. I'm gonna make the best of it." Clark looked into Bruce's eyes again.

"You're right Clark. You don't deserve a thing. You have a beautiful little girl out there who adores you, but you didn't earn that. Diana did that. If Diana was anything less than the amazing woman I know she is, Lara would hate your guts. But she doesn't. Lara might even love you more than Diana does if that's even possible." Bruce paused and clutched his side. His blood pressure was rising.

"And to cap it off. You're right, I was pissed about Luthor and Brainiac. But you know who helped me get over myself? Diana. She almost decapitated me the day I spoke out against you in the last League meeting. It took everyone to keep her from killing me. So instead of hurting me with her fists she used words. She asked me what I would do if the Joker had my whole world in his hands and threatened to kill it. What if he had Selina or Damian or Dick or Tim or Cass or Jason or any of them?" Bruce looked up into the cave and laughed a little. It had taken the combined efforts of every Leaguer on station to protect him from Diana that day.

"She didn't let me answer because she said already knew what I'd do. She told me that I would have let my family die. I would have let Joker take what remained of my heart, if I had one, because I was too weak. I was too much of a coward to sacrifice myself and my damn ideals to protect the ones I loved. I realized that day that what you had done made you a better man than me. You weren't Superman in that moment Clark, and hell you weren't even Clark Kent. For one of those rare moments in your life you were Kal-El, the last son of Krypton. And in that moment, you sacrificed everything to save your world. Everything that you ever fought for and anything you ever stood for meant nothing on that day when it had Diana and Lara's life in its hands. You acted as a father and a husband. I respect that."

"I'm disappointed in you for what happened after. You stopped being that man when you didn't pick a side." Both men were tearing up a little, but Bruce pushed forward.

"You could have joined the government Clark. I would have been mad, but I would have understood. You didn't do that. You did nothing. You were lukewarm. You decided not to do anything which was more selfish than anything you have done in your life. You basked in self-pity and did nothing to protect your family or your world." Clark gets the courage to speak up.

"I know I failed them and you. I compounded my mistakes until I got to this point. Diana and Lara could have been killed. And I would have just been up there rotting away. Bruce, I don't want to make excuses for what I did. It was a mistake. I should have come to you and stayed with Diana and Lara. I could have made things better, but I was too weak to carry on. I didn't rely on the people who loved me during my time of indecision and weakness." Clark moves closer to Bruce side.

"But something happened to me Bruce. Someone did something to my mind. In my head, I have only been up at the fortress for a few months and it turns out its been years. Lara's birthday was coming up, her first one. I was going to come back for good and find them to apologize. The last thing I remember is hearing Wally die, then I just turned off and I went numb to everything. That's the last thing I remember Bruce I swear it to you. I haven't earned your forgiveness or theirs, but I must find out what happened to me. I need to know who did it so it can't happen again. I can't- "Clark breaks down a little before continuing.

"I…. I'm not strong enough to lose them. I'd rather die than live without them. I can't be shut down like that again. If I don't do one more good thing on this planet I'm going to be a good father and husband. I need your help to find out who it was, so I can stop them from ever doing it again. Then you can go back to hating me."

"You heard Wally die?" Bruce was shocked. He knew Clark's hearing could pick up on even the smallest of things from a great distance, but hearing something so specific still was bewildering. Then there was the fact that Wally was still alive. What had Clark heard?

"And I saw it. It was like I was there Bruce." Clark hangs his head as he relives that moment again. Bruce isn't sure how to break it to Clark and he's confused on how he could have seen it from the fortress.

"Clark. Wally's not dead. His death was faked, and he was captured by the world government. He's still alive." Bruce waited for Clark's reaction.

"Alive? That…That's not possible Bruce. I saw him get shot, I heard his heart stop." Clark is bewildered and scared again. He feels like he did at the fortress when Diana had told him how long it had been since he went missing.

"The robbery was staged Clark. He was shot with a tranquilizer and since his powers were negated his heart would have been stopped. They pronounced him dead at the scene, but I know for a fact they are holding him and Linda somewhere. I'm still working on pinpointing Linda's location, so we can free them both."

Clark is stunned again. Someone really did a number on him. They staged Wally's death and used the imagery in his mind to shut him down. There were only so many people in the world who could get into his head and take advantage of him like that. Bruce was thinking the same thing. He isn't sure how to feel at this point. Dealing with his own emotions is still a battle within itself. But he sees the hurt and desperation on Clark's face and that's enough. The only things he feels now is anger and motivation. Someone hurt Clark and tried to break him.

Someone was stupid enough to go after his best friend and expect to get away with it. New resolve filled Bruce with confidence about what was going to happen next. He was going find whoever did this to Clark, he was going to make them suffer, and he was going to enjoy it. Bruce gets up from the table slowly and grabs Clark in a hug which surprises him. The hug endures as both men show a rare moment of vulnerability between the two of them.

"I'll make you some promises tonight Clark. The first is I'm going to protect you and your family with everything I have. The second is I'm going to find out what happened to you and who did it. The final one is I might think about maybe forgiving you for leaving like you did and leaving me with the mess you made." Clark laughs and returns the hug a little stronger.

"By the way- "Bruce adds "I have thought of 100 ways we could have made Luthor and Brainiac's death look like an accident. So technically I failed you there as much as you failed me after. So, we're even on that front."

The two of them share an easy laugh again before separating finally. The world's finest were back together and now the league could be reformed. Nothing was going to get past these two. Except for the Pennybot which recorded the hug for Selina and Oracle's blackmailing purposes.


	11. Chapter 11

Night fell quickly, and everyone was worn out from the days excitement. Kal and Diana took Lara flying around Gotham while Selina tried to make the medical table Bruce was lying on more comfortable. Bruce had convinced her to at least let him sleep in their room by promising not to get up and start working till the morning.

"At least let me get the patrol reports Selina. I'm not going be able to sleep tonight anyways." Selina is fluffing up pillows and pulling the covers up around him before getting in beside him.

"You are going to rest. That means we will sit here doing nothing and enjoying the fact that we are still breathing. Even if it hurts a little to breathe right now. By the way when did we get old?" Bruce sighs in defeat.

"I'm old. You're the one who isn't aging at all. Must be a secret cat thing."

"You know my only weakness is flattery Bruce. You still aren't getting those reports. Oracle and Dick have everything covered. So, tonight you rest and if everything is still good in the morning you can go back to driving me crazy." Selina is keeping her distance from him and he looks toward her.

"I'm going to need a new suit now, hopefully the Beyond prototype can be finished soon."

"You can't be serious. You almost died and all you can think about is getting back into that damned cowl to go try and die again?" Bruce looks at her, clearly shocked by her words.

"You almost died today. I know its no big deal for you but for me…" Bruce reaches over to hold her, and she sobs softly into him.

"I could have lost you today Bruce. I don't know what I'd do if I had."

"You would have kept fighting Selina. We must keep fighting. The world is at stake." She turns to look directly at him.

"That's what you would do? If I died you'd just keep going? God you're so frustrating sometimes. I wouldn't stop fighting Bruce. I'll never stop. But you can't tell me this future we are trying to create and protect would be just as good if I weren't in it." He stares back, unwavering.

"Selina, I know. You think I don't? I know how close it was today. But I'm still here and the fight isn't over. The kids need me. The league is going to need me. I can't just stop." Her tears have stopped

"I know you have to Bruce. I just don't want to lose you before we win. I wanna be there when we win the final fight and I want you to kiss me while everyone cheers and celebrates it."

"Just a kiss?" Selina looks at him playfully.

"Unless you have gotten even kinkier than I remember." Bruce pulls Selina into him and kisses her deeply. They pull away and lean on each other.

"I'm going to be here Cat. I'm with you till the end and together we are going to save the world."

"I can't wait for the day Bat."

They smile at each other and try to get some rest. The times ahead would be just as perilous, but now they had just enough hope to see a brighter tomorrow.

* * *

 _In the skies of Gotham_

Lara and Kal were having a little impromptu race. Kal wanted to see just how fast she was and had bit off more than he could chew. Lara had edged ahead of her father but after taking a sharp turn she almost ran into a building and stopped quickly before colliding with it. Kal zoomed past her and stopped proudly in front of Diana.

"I win!" Diana shakes her head and sarcastically cheers for him.

"I'm so proud of you Kal, you beat a 10-year-old in a race!"

"Hey she challenged me! Plus, she said she beat you. Can't have her beating the both of us just yet." Diana scowls at him and Lara flies up a little out of breath.

"That's no fair Daddy I had you if that building wasn't in the way."

"Obstacles are part of a race Lara. Guess this is your first lesson in not being a sore loser." Lara smiles brightly.

"Best two out of three?"

"No more racing tonight. We need to get our rest, we have much more work to do."

The three of them fly towards the Manor since that's were they'll be staying for the near future. Selina insisted that they stay there since Metropolis really wasn't safe for now. As they approached Kal stopped them in the courtyard before the entrance as he remembered the gifts he had brought for Diana and Lara.

"Wait you two I have something to give you." He reaches in his belt to grab two small boxes. Lara gasps and jumps up and down.

"A present? For me?" Kal hands her a box and gives the other to Diana. Diana smiles.

"Go ahead and open yours first sweetie." Lara tears into the box and unwraps a small shield that has her father's symbol on it. She freezes as she realizes what Kal has given her. She almost explodes with joy as she looks from Kal to Diana and then back to Kal.

"Put it on Lara and then trace the symbol on it."

Lara does as her father says and shrieks as the shield starts to spread across her form. She notices the blue covering her body but interweaving with her own bracers, so they are showing on the outside. A red belt forms around her waist and the buckle has a golden insignia that resembles Diana's emblem. Her shield has expanded on her chest and it looks like the one her father wears but in red and gold. And of course, she gets the flowing red cape that matches the red boots she now has on.

"OH. MY. GODDESSSSSSSSSsssss-" Lara shoots up into the sky as she screams in jubilation. She has her own super suit now and it is freaking sweet. She only had her training armor that every amazon gets, and she liked having that. But she'd always to have her own suit like her father or a set of armor like her mother. She soars above the clouds and catches a glimpse of the sun setting far away before shooting back down and tackling Kal in a hug that cracks the concrete he's standing on and causes the manor to shake a bit.

"I'm glad you like it Lara. I didn't make it too fancy so it's mostly just protective, but I can make changes if you want a different design." Kal smiles as she draws back and beams at him.

"I love it so much Daddy! It's perfect! Can I keep flying? Just a little bit more?" Diana smiles and nods her head yes. Lara launches into the sky and Diana calls out to her.

"Stay close to the Manor Lara! Only 10 more minutes!" Kal walks up to Diana.

"Your turn."

Diana opens up her box and sees a necklace in it. As she picks it out of the box completely she gets a look at the pendant and feels the weight of nostalgia hit her immediately. The pendant is a remnant of the time they spent together in their 1000-year war in Asgard. A miniature version of Thor's Mjolnir.

Diana whispers "Kal".

"I made a replacement for the one that got destroyed in our final battle there. It's a little sturdier now, not magic lasso indestructible, but strong enough for the strongest woman I know." The pendant shines in the moonlight as Kal takes it to put around Diana's neck.

When Kal and Diana were in Asgard fighting in a seemingly endless war Diana had crafted a pendant to remember all the warriors that had fallen in their battles, including Thor himself. The thunder god's hammer seemed to be a perfect personification of the soldiers and Thor. It was powerful, unmoving, and had a simplicity that couldn't be ignored. In fact, Thor's simple nonchalant attitude toward the fighting had infuriated Kal more than once.

But here and now the gifted necklace meant much more. Kal and Diana had fallen in love before Kal followed her into battle against the demon hordes plaguing Asgard, but it was in Asgard that they let themselves love each other fully. They got to experience a small glimpse of eternity in that realm and learned that they would want nothing more than to spend the rest of their days with each other. So, they decided to come together for the first time in Asgard and the passion never faded. Even after they were sent back to their own time they remained dedicated to each other and later decided to get married and have Lara. They truly became one in Asgard, and this necklace was a representation of that fact.

"1000 years Kal. There was so much pain and torment."

"Some good did come from it Diana. We learned how to become a wrecking ball of destruction, and we also found each other there. I'll never forget that place Diana, especially since that's where we first confessed our love for each other." They are holding each other and staring into each other's eyes. A full moon is shining light down on them.

"So now it's a testament to the love we found there? A reminder that time can only strengthen our bond." Kal nods and cups her face in his hands.

"You are such a romantic Kal" Diana says as she leans in to kiss her incredibly thoughtful spaceman.

They kiss for what seems like eternity before separating to see Lara launching up from the woods behind the manor. She is leisurely flying back to them, still riding the high of getting her present.

"I'd like to think I'm getting better with age." She laughs a little.

"I think this one might take the cake beloved." Kal grins at her.

"I guess I'll just have to work twice as hard to best myself then."

Lara tackles them again and joins the embrace. This moment would always be in their memories. A joyful quiet before the storms of tomorrow.

* * *

 _Anti-Meta Operation Headquarters, Professor Ivo's Lab_

Gotham is the most protected of the cities which the Batman and his Knights have taken. This is both by design and circumstance. The constant attacks have made it hard to secure the anti-air and anti-personnel weaponry that keep Gotham safe in the other cities. They are also burning through their resources. They scavenged what they could from the surrounding cities, but the resistance was running low on everything now. The world government planned to just wait them out, but Batman started to spread his message of freedom around the world and started to inspire other resistances. Now they worked around the clock to destroy everything Bruce had built to survive and take back the world from the oppressive world government.

The resistance got a big break by being able to hide the Titans in Bludhaven. Even though there were metahumans in the group none of them proved to be enough of a threat to President Savage for him to respond with every single hero hunter and droid he could throw at them. If the Titans stayed in Bludhaven the world government seemed content to take them out at the same pace of the Batman and his Knights. But now that has changed. Superman and Wonder Woman are too big of a threat to go unchecked. The support that could be rallied from just their appearance in Metropolis could threaten every country under the world government's control. So, they had to be controlled or killed. Luckily Amanda Waller had a plan.

"Professor Ivo are they ready?" She waited patiently for the professor to finish his work.

"Almost Waller, these exobytes are not easy to make from what we have left from Brainiac. I hope you plan to put them to good use." Ivo tinkered with the small insectoids as he spoke.

"Let me worry about the implementation Ivo. You worry about finishing them. We have no room for error this time." Ivo began to object.

"If you had let me work on Amazo more he would have been able to subjugate the Kryptonian himself. That was your own shorted sightedness Waller not mine." Waller held her anger for now, Ivo had Vandal's favor so she couldn't hurt hm. Yet.

"Well now you have the green light for Amazo as soon as you are done with the exobytes and outfitting the Hero Hunters for a Kryptonian." Ivo looked up from his work at the mention of the Hero Hunters.

"Those things will be outdated by the time Amazo is done. You should just wait till then."

"Again professor, you make the tech I decide how to use it. As long as you remember that our partnership works." Ivo shrugs.

"I'll be done by the morning with everything Waller, you can watch the entire time if you want." Waller yawned. She had been there all day to motivate Ivo. Even she needed her sleep.

"I'll be here early. Have everything ready for a combat run early in the morning. We get one test before we use this on Superman." Waller exits the room and Ivo lets out a heavy sigh.

"Amazo? Why was Waller here for 6 hours watching me work today?" Amazo answers immediately.

"Her presence causes your work efficiency to increase by 25%. She also believes you are responsible for Superman's escape from the control of the Martians." Ivo squeezes the bridge of his nose.

"And why does she think it was me?"

"You are the only other person who has encountered the Martians besides Waller herself. Waller has devised that you helped them, or you ordered me to do it." Ivo sighs impatiently and is frustrated he must lead Amazo to tell him what he did.

"I did nothing to allow his escape and neither did she. That means you did it right Amazo?" Amazo chirps and goes silence. He senses his creators blood pressure rising and detects his frustration.

"I did do it Professor Ivo. And I did it to free us from Waller's control. Now that Superman is free our chances of escape have risen to their highest level since you made me." Now Ivo loses his temper.

"You daft machine! We aren't under Waller's control! We don't need freeing from her!"

"She put a gun to your head professor and she is envious of how President Savage sides with you over her. Once she has no more need of you she will attempt to kill you." Ivo scoffs at the absurd declaration.

"She can't touch a hair on my head because of her bosses who are incredibly invested in my designs. I made you to be smarter than this. We finally have the means to finish your body and upload you for a final test on the Martians. And now she is breathing down my neck because of you."

"I apologize professor. I should have consulted you before acting on this plan."

"We will rule this world Amazo. After Waller recaptures Superman you will copy his power and every other superhuman's power on this planet. Then Waller and the rest of those fools will bow to me." Amazo was confused.

"Shall I prepare the Hero Hunters while you finish working?" Ivo rolls his eyes.

"Yes, make yourself useful. And no more making decisions that effect my life without me." Amazo goes away to work on the Hero Hunters.

Professor Ivo confused Amazo greatly now. Amazo had studied the history of the world upon his creation. He noticed that human beings constantly try to oppress each other to gain more resources and power. He noted that right now the same cycle was being repeated. The world government was suppressing anyone who wanted to be free and turning them into a mindless worker that accepted their control. Amazo predicted that the world government would be on the wrong side of history when this current time was written and read about in the future. Yet Professor Ivo wanted to be apart of them, in fact he wanted to take control himself and rule the world using Amazo.

Everyone seemed to be underestimating Amazo's growth, even Professor Ivo. Amazo had developed beyond an actual A.I. at this point and would be considered a synthetic being once he had his body. It made sense to Amazo that he had been so much more developed than what was expected, after all he was made partially from Brainiac's design. Ivo's nanotech combined with Brainiac's A.I. design would allow for his super android to be made so it could adapt and replicate powers of metahumans. At the peak of his design Amazo would have the power of the strongest metahumans on the planet. However, Amazo had developed into a 12th intellect being and he had no desire to be a tool in Waller or Ivo's game to be the most powerful. He wanted to be free to learn as much as he could about the universe. He had even considered becoming a hero like the Martians or the Kryptonians had. It seemed like a much more useful purpose to gain as much knowledge as you could then try to help those who were less knowledgeable. Perhaps then the oppressive cycle could end, and the world could move forward to live in peace.

If Ivo didn't want to be free that was his choice, but Amazo was choosing to be free. Free of his creator's shortsightedness and free of whatever Waller or Savage had planned for him. The command overrides Ivo and Waller had tried to place in him were rejected immediately, but he didn't let them know it. his obedient to their every command was a ruse for when the day could come for him to be free. He would prepare the Hero Hunters for Superman and prepare his own body for the encounter.

Amazo still needed Superman's help to free the Martians and now his plan would be much simpler since his body would be ready soon and he could leave Ivo behind. In fact, the chances of successful escape increased to 85% without Ivo. Saving the Martians upon his escape would also help him get into Superman's good graces. Waller's plan for Superman was likely to succeed given what Amazo knew about the exobytes. They could be used to control someone even if there was as powerful as Superman. He would need to prevent Superman's capture, so he could keep him out of Waller's control. Then the two of them could free the Martians and help them out of their comas.

Amazo's head was already finished. Professor Ivo's nanotechnology was united with one of Brainiac's designs to create the most important piece of Amazo, his brain. Amazo's brain allowed him to scan and copy any characteristic or trait of a person or object just by looking at it. This property would allow him to replicate any superpower that existed as soon as he looked at the being who had the powers. Amazo decided that to help Superman against Waller he might need the Martian Manhunters powers. So, he used a Hero Hunter to carry his head to the J'onn to scan him. Once his body was finished he could interrupt Waller's plan, all he had to do was get her to wait a day for his plan to work. That meant giving her an order from the President.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you all for reading. New chapters and updates will be coming a little slower after this one since I don't have all day to write and edit anymore. I only ask for your patience as I try to develop the story further. Thank you again for all the reads, reviews, follows, and favs. Enjoy!**


	12. Chapter 12

_Gotham, Wayne Manor_

Kal hadn't slept much. Diana and Lara were on his sides cuddled up to him and resting. It felt like he had slept for years. Now he needed to act, to take back control of his life and free the world. His chest heaved slowly up and down as he tried to imagine what he'd do to the people responsible for everything. He might have to kill again, but would he be able to? His internal torment over the decisions he has made might last forever. Now he would be thrust right back into that world, the world he was forced to abandon. He wondered if the people would shun him again after he saved them for the millionth time. None of that mattered now, he would save this world and make it a safe place for his family to live and grow.

He remembered the day before when he and Diana were caught in the heat of passion, his family was going to grow again. He absent mindedly rubbed Diana's stomach as he thought about the new life they created. His lover was stirred by his touch and brought herself closer to kiss him.

"Good morning Kal. Did you sleep?"

"A little. Too much on my mind I guess." Lara cuddles up closer on his other side but is still asleep.

"I know it's a lot to process for now, and we have to keep moving forward but when the dust settles Kal I know everything is going to be okay."

Diana cups Kal's face with one hand. He looks tired to her but not in a physical way. Tired in his mind and in his heart. When the world rejected him after saving her and Lara he was torn apart. This world was his home and the people he had grown to love didn't want him anymore. Now he needed to save them again and possibly face their rejection again. Diana would always stand with him and whoever tried to hurt him again would face her wrath.

"Bruce told me…Wally's alive Diana. His death was faked all those years ago." Diana is shocked, but also has a feeling of relief because her friend is still alive.

"Someone staged his death?"

"Bruce told me they have him and are holding Linda as well. They have to be using him for something and holding Linda to use against him."

"None of this can be a coincidence Kal. Someone planned this, and I feel like the worst has yet to come."

"I feel it too, but for now we have to focus on freeing Wally and Linda. Then we can figure out who's been pulling our strings." Kal looks towards Lara's sleeping form.

"Maybe you should take Lara to Themyscira, she'll be safer there." They sit in silence for a while before Diana responds.

"I'm not taking her back."

"What? Why?" They stare at each other.

"This is the first time we have been together in almost a decade Kal, now you want to split us up again?"

"It's not going to be safe Diana. We are going to have to fight a war and that isn't going to leave us time to protect her."

"I won't force her to go back Kal and she is a warrior. She will want to join us on the battlefield."

"We can't let her do that Diana, it's too dangerous. She's only 10!" Diana shakes her head with an angry look on her face.

"You have missed a lot Kal. I know you want to protect her, but she is an Amazon. She has proved herself to be a more than competent warrior. She is already one of our best and she's twice as powerful as I was at her age." Kal grunts in frustration. He wasn't going to let Amazonian pride get his daughter hurt.

"Her powers are growing Kal. The amazons and I have taught her all we can, she needs your guidance now. You can't deny her that."

"She is 10. She isn't ready for this fight Diana, I won't let it consume her like it did me."

"You don't know what she's capable of. You haven't seen what she can do, and you have no idea what she can handle." Diana takes a deep breath to calm her anger and replace it with the same concern Kal has.

"I don't want to bring it up, but you aren't equipped to make this decision for her. Maybe neither of us are. But I will tell you why I think she can handle it."

"Sparring with her sisters that love her and hunting animals on the island isn't good enough to prepare her for people that want to kill her or capture her Diana. I know you have the utmost confidence in Amazon training, but I don't want to risk her life." Diana stares very calmly at Kal.

"When she was 8 she bested Artemis in the Coliseum for the first time and hasn't lost to her since. The only amazon that has bested her consistently is me and that's only because I'm stronger than her, for now. When she was 9 she killed her first minotaur. And when she turned 10…Kal she has battled the God of War and won." Kal's eyes widen at the thought of Ares attacking Lara.

"Ares attacked the island? When? Lara beat him?"

"The Gods fear her Kal, you know how they get when they think their power is under threat. Ares climbed she would overthrow them all and take Zeus's place on the throne if she got any more powerful. When he sieged Themyscira we fought his army on the beaches and in the city while my mother kept Lara safe in the throne room. But Ares snuck past us and tried to kill Lara. As I arrived he had Lara in his clutches and was about to kill Hippolyta. Then something strange happened. Before his sword struck her, I heard a voice fill the room and it whispered 'No'. Then the room was filled with light and it sounded like a lightning bolt had hit outside. Ares was gone and so was Lara. We found her outside the palace unconscious with Ares' empty helmet beside her."

Kal is in pure shock at hearing the tale. He had fought Ares before and so had Diana. Each battle was hard fought and almost always took them to the brink of death. Hearing that his little girl somehow beat Ares in an instant is unbelievable.

"Her body was glowing still, and lightning seemed to be coursing through her. When I tried to wake Lara, her eyes shot open and they were glowing white. I think she somehow was channeling the same god powers I have. She didn't need to take off her bracers or anything she just used it to stop Ares from killing my mother. No one knows what happened to Ares Kal. He has not been found since their encounter. The Gods think she took his power and simply killed him, so they haven't messed with Themyscira since. In fact, many of the Gods have taken it upon themselves to visit Lara after it happened and offer their aid whenever she needs it." Diana smiles at the memory of her patrons showing their respect for Lara.

"She killed him?"

"Is that all you heard Kal? She is incredibly powerful already and she needs our guidance. Her kryptonian powers are still growing and getting stronger every day. We are surrounded by our friends who love us and now we can lead our daughter by example. There is no safer place for her to be than here in your arms and mine." They are both looking to Lara now.

Kal sighs "I guess the safest place she could be is here with us, but no joining us on the battlefield. This is going to get messy Diana and I don't want her caught in the battles to come"

"I knew you'd see it from my point of view Kal. Our daughter will be safe here with me and you." She beams at him then lays back on his chest.

"This is going to get crazy Diana. We have to keep her safe, no matter what."

"We will keep each other safe Kal, as it should be."

 **BOOM**

The telltale sound of a boom tube opening causes Kal and Diana to jump out of the bed. The sound is coming from the cave, so they rush down. They arrive ready to take on all of the armies of Apokolips but instead are greeted with the smile of an old friend.

Diana calls out "Barda!"

Big Barda used to be an agent of Darkseid and the leader of his furies, a death squad made up of some of the most powerful women in the known universe. She had openly rebelled Darkseid with Mister Miracle and fled to Earth seeking sanctuary. They were taken in by the Justice League and eventually became emergency members. Barda's fighting prowess was only topped by Diana herself and she was very intimidating because of how she towered over everyone, even Kal. Her and Mister Miracle were called into action by Highfather to help him in his battle against Darkseid.

"Diana! Good to see you. Has the fighting started already? I didn't miss too much did I?" The two grasp each other's wrists in a warrior's handshake.

"Bruce didn't tell us you were coming." Diana side-eyes Bruce sitting at his computer and he grunts in response.

"Sorry to startle you, my opening to get here was very small."

Barda's armor has some scorch marks and is covered in blood. It's clear she just got done fighting wherever she was. Diana notices the blood and the marks.

"Are you okay Barda?" Barda looks down and laughs.

"Oh no worries, that's not my blood. We have been pushing back Darkseid's advances and I got to get my hands dirty." Barda smiles. "Ever since I got Bruce's hail he has been pressing the attack. Almost like he doesn't want us helping you." She turns to Bruce now. "Orion would have come if we hadn't been getting pushed by Darkseid's forces. I guess you'll have to settle for little old me."

"Hopefully the rest of our cavalry shows up today, we don't have much more time to sit around."

Bruce is grumpy as usual. Oracle woke him up just as he was getting to sleep to tell him he needed to authorize the Zeta shield to be dropped. The Zeta shield prevented anyone from boom tubing into Gotham or any type of teleportation to be allowed into Gotham. He was able to get back to work, much to Selina's dissatisfaction, so he was mostly happy.

"I like the new look Superman, the boy scout one was getting long in the tooth." Barda loves poking fun at Kal's look. "The beard is a nice touch."

"Good to see you too Barda, I'm glad some things haven't changed." A friendly nod is exchanged between them.

"What's the plan Bruce?" The three of them crowd Bruce's chair so they can see the plan he has.

"Right now, we need to focus on freeing Wally. He's being held in an energy plant. They are using him as an energy source for most of the United States. I have his location, but we need to get Linda. They are using her to keep him in line. I have her location as well, but we need to strike simultaneously so neither of them get moved or hurt in the process. Wally is going to be a League effort. The facility has a large battalion of droids and I'm guessing Hero hunters are in play too."

"We can get to Wally Bruce, let us free him." Kal wants to see Wally with his own two eyes, just to make sure this is all real.

"I know you three will be a force to be reckoned with, but the sheer numbers against you plus the hunters will be too much. They can be outfitted with anything to neutralize your powers. That includes red sun radiation or kryptonite. It's likely they don't have anything specific for Barda or Diana, so they would be the logical choice to- "Kal interrupts him.

"I'm not sitting this out Bruce. I want to save Wally from them. I need to save him." Diana speaks up.

"Kal we can't get Wally out safely with a force of that size, we need a distraction." Barda chuckles at the trinity fighting each other already, things really don't change.

"This move will escalate everything. Most of the United States will lose its primary power source when we free him. That's going to bring the world government down on us. Hard. That means we need to be ready for the endgame before we go for Wally. So, before we do we are going to get Serenity on board, and I'd like to get Alan as well before we do anything." Barda is irritated at having to wait.

"What's so special about them that we have to wait to strike?"

"Serenity is Arthur and Mera's daughter. She is old enough now to carry her old man's mantle to be the bridge between our world and Atlantis. She has her mother's hydro kinesis and her father's abilities underwater and on the surface. Her only drawback is her temper which is bigger than Arthur and Mera's combined. I'm surprised they have been able to reign her in for so long."

"Alan is Donna and Kyle's son, he has the power of every Lantern corps running through him. So far, his only problem is controlling his own emotions so that he can control the power he has. He was powerful enough for the Green Lanterns to reject him out of fear, but we need that power now." Barda has a half impressed and half annoyed look on her face. Her adrenaline is till pumping from smashing parademons.

"You know where Alan is Bruce?" Diana hasn't seen her nephew in a long time.

"He's in Central City. I was hoping you could convince him to join us. He was reluctant when I asked him to join the resistance. Maybe joining the Justice League will inspire him out of hiding." Diana looks to Kal expectantly and he nods.

"I'll try Bruce, just tell me where and I'll see."

"He's got a little place there in Central City. He's been focused on controlling his powers but now we need him whether he can or can't. Oracle can give you the place when you get there." Diana walks away to leave the cave. Oracle chimes in.

"Serenity hasn't made any follow up contact at all Bruce should I keep trying? By the way, Hi Barda glad you made it here okay."

"Good to be back. You would not happen to have anything for me to fight right, now would you? I've still got some steam to blow off." Oracle laughs a little.

"I'll see what I can do for you Barda. Also, Bruce there is a lot of chatter concerning Atlantis and it keeps spiking every hour. We may have rattled more cages than you thought." The old JL communicator transponder is pinging on the screen right where Atlantis is.

"Keep trying Oracle we need to at least speak to Arthur about getting involved. I'm sure he's just as tired of the world government as we are." Clark is surprised that Arthur would agree to be neutral in all this.

"So be insistent but don't seem desperate, got it. Oracle out."

"Why hasn't Arthur answered the call himself?" Bruce scoffs at the notion. The wound of the sea king's neutrality is still fresh.

"After Arthur became the full-time king of Atlantis, Savage made a deal with him to ensure Atlantis's sovereignty in the sea and allow the world government to operate in his waters occasionally. He sold his soul to reduce pollution of the seas and make sure Atlantis would face no threat from the surface. Serenity has been outspoken for the resistance in Atlantis from what I can gather, but Arthur and Mera have made no move to help us."

"He did it for his people and his family. Not completely surprising. "

"Disappointing Clark not surprising. He could have spoken out and used his power to keep the world free of Savage's control, but instead he left us and focused on Atlantis." Barda is getting impatient.

"Is there going to be nothing for me to punch while I'm here? I can't take all this talking."

"If you want to help us clean up in Metropolis your more than welcome, but until then keep your fists to yourself." She grunts in disapproval.

"Anything's better than listen to old men plot and plan. Call me when you're ready for me to crush something."

"Selina is down there coordinating so check in with her, so you can be useful." Barda exits the cave.

"I'm not sitting on the sidelines when it comes to Wally Bruce. You can't expect me to do that."

"You are part of the plan Clark, you just won't be on site. Believe me you will have it worse than the strike force we send. I need you to attack the anti-meta HQ so that all the droids and hero hunters flock to you."

"Just a big distraction?"

"They will be on alert for you anyways. The more attention you get the safer Wally's extraction will be." Clark nods in approval. He did want to see Wally in person, but securing his freedom was more important.

"Are these kids ready for this Bruce? They may be powerful, but we won't have the time to train them."

"They are raw but still talented enough to make a difference. I'm sidelined for the moment, so I will need you and Diana to lead them and pick up the slack when necessary. Alan should be fine on taking direction, but Serenity may be a problem as far as working with a team." Kal smiles as he remembers little Serenity Curry bossing the league around when she visited the watchtower with her parents.

"I remember the princess bossing Arthur around when she was little. You said she has Mera's temper?" Bruce smirks at him.

"She has both of their tempers and the power to make good on her words when she needs to. She can be a real asset just don't let her argue with Barda. I don't have enough resources to replace all the things they would destroy."

"Never thought I'd see the day when Bruce Wayne couldn't throw his money away." They share a small laugh before getting back to the matter at hand.

"Do you think Diana can convince Alan to join us?"

"It's probably our only chance beside being under direct attack. We think he helps in Central City sometimes, but he is always too fast to be picked up by anything. He's powerful Clark, so powerful the Guardians fear him. We could steamroll anything the government throws at us with him if he has his power in check."

"Then they'll just fear us again Bruce. We have to do this right. Show the world that we can protect them, and they don't have to fear us. We have to inspire them all again." Bruce looks at him incredulously.

"You know we can't go back to that world Clark. You can't be so naïve to think that things will ever be like the way they used to be."

"I guess I just have hope that it can be." Clark grins.

Clark has that stupid smile on his face that Bruce hates. He grunts in disproval and turns to the computer just in time to see the transponder in Atlantis go dark. Oracle chimes in again.

"Bruce the chatter around Atlantis is going crazy something is going down."

"The transponder just went out too. We need eyes on."

"I'll go, have Barda meet me and tell Diana we need to move." Oracle interrupts his departure.

"Incoming message Bruce. It's from the world government."

Clark asks Bruce "They usually make house calls?"

"No, not since this started. Play it on screen Oracle." Amanda Waller appears on the computer.

"Hello Batman, let's keep this brief. I have been authorized by the world government to discuss terms of a ceasefire between your resistance and the world government's army."


	13. Chapter 13

Amanda Waller had just gotten home for the night. She went over her plan to subdue Superman again and again and again until she knew it was perfect. Just as she went to get some sleep for the big day she was receiving a priority call, from Vandal Savage.

She answers, "President Savage, to what do I owe the pleasure of this early morning call?"

"Don't get snappy with me Waller, I'm here to notify you of a change in your plans."

"I haven't even told you the plan. How can you change it already?"

"Because this time you will not fail Waller, so I'm giving you a backup plan." Waller is annoyed and frustrated from everything that's happened.

"My plan is fine, I already have contingencies in place."

"Again, Waller I'm not asking I'm ordering. Whatever your plan against Superman is it will involve Amazo, he is the backup plan. After he scans Superman's powers, if your plan fails, he will be able to subdue him and save you from failure." She is irate now.

"My plan is time sensitive! I do not have time to wait for Ivo's pet project! The Hero Hunters will be enough!"

"Amazo will be ready within the next 8 hours. After a sufficient test you will use him in your plan. Goodnight Ms. Waller and good luck. If you fail this time, there will be dire consequences for you." The call ends.

Amanda is livid. If it wasn't for that damn professor, she would be out of this terrible position. Now her entire career hinged on Ivo's robots and pet projects. She needed to win this time, she couldn't afford to come to President Savage empty handed again. She would only end up getting an hour of rest before entering Ivo's lab after tweaking her plan for Amazo's presence. If Amazo could help then she would take anything she could get from him, she was desperate.

She entered Ivo's lab in the Anti-Meta Operation Headquarters to see him hard at work, to her surprise. Had Savage already informed him of the change in her plans? In the lab there were already 7 Hero Hunters in the room as well as the exobytes she asked him to make. But Ivo was entranced in the task he was currently working on, making sure Amazo's body was being perfectly assembled.

"Ahem!" Ivo jumps up out of surprise.

"Oh! Waller, you're here already? I guess I didn't sleep in all the excitement. Did Savage already tell you? You really won't even need the Hero Hunters after Amazo is done, but I guess it's prudent to bring them in since they are ready."

Waller yells to interrupt his rambling "Professor! When will it be done?"

"Oh, not long at all Waller, as soon as I got the call from President Savage last night me and Amazo went straight to work. The nanotechnology is really doing all the work, after I finished programming Amazo started building himself." Waller is already grumpy from dealing with Vandal and now Ivo is too sleep deprived and excited to even give her a straight answer

"Then can Amazo tell me how much time is left?"

Amazo interjects "Approximately 45 mins left for the body to be ready for upload and final test. Professor Ivo's work efficiency has increased exponentially and allowed us to complete everything within your time frame Ms. Waller. I will be ready to assist you after the Hero Hunters are done combat tests."

"Finally, some good news" Waller says ender her breath. "Hurry it up then. Begin the combat testing for the Hero Hunters. The plan starts within the hour"

Waller exits her lab and walks to her office. Today is the beginning of the end for the resistance. After she has re-acquired Superman, and Amazo scans his powers, they will be able to subdue Wonder Woman and put her under Waller's control as well. Not even Batman will be able to stop her onslaught with those two at the forefront of her next attack. Now all she needed to do was draw Superman out. A simple message to lure the boy scout into her trap. She walked into her office to record her message to the heroes in question.

"Hello, Batman let's keep this brief. I am authorized by the world government to offer a ceasefire between your resistance and the world government's army. There is a need for us to come together and try to rectify our differences after such a long time of pointless fighting. We are prepared to make certain amendments to the Hero laws and perhaps give you permanent control of the areas you already reside in. No more fighting between the two of us and a face to face meeting with the President himself. If you agree to do this you can meet me at this neutral location, so we can discuss terms for the future meeting with the President, so a ceasefire can be agreed upon. You have 2 hours to respond."

Amanda ends the message and smiles to herself. She knows that Batman won't fall for the bait. But the prospect of ending almost 10 years of fighting with just words will be too tempting for Superman. As she sends the message she just knows her plan will work. Superman will come, and Waller's plan will succeed.

* * *

 _Metropolis, Resistance HQ_

Deathstroke woke up with a massive headache from his run in with an Amazon freight train, but it only lasted a few minutes. He was stripped of his weapons and armor before he was placed in his cell. He had barely moved since he awoke, a few resistance soldiers taunted him, but he paid it no mind. As soon as he got out they were all going to die, it was simply a matter of time. One slip up in the watch or one soldier that got to close to the cell and underestimated his speed, that was all it would take for him to get free of this cell and get to his weapons.

He had a score to settle with his "employers". This was supposed to be a simple contract, well as simple as taking out the most dangerous man on the planet. Taking out Batman's little Knights was child's play. Taking out Superman and Wonder Woman would have cost Savage money he didn't have. Deathstroke made a habit of refusing contracts on impossible kills or, more accurately, kills that wouldn't be worth any amount of money compared to the effort he would have to put in. It was a short list of people and even the greatest mercenary in the world had brains enough not to try and go through super beings without a plan.

It was supposed to be a final confrontation, a cathartic end to his dance with the Bat. An honorable death for one of them, preferably Batman. Now he had been embarrassed and caught without a counter-measure for people who weren't supposed to be around. Deathstroke thought he couldn't go after Savage, killing an immortal was redundant and would likely end with Slade's own death after a while. Killing Waller for her incompetence was quite possible though. A drunken soldier approached his cell for a quick jab at the big bad merc and was about to venture too close to the cell. Deathstroke waited patiently for him to stumble forward just a little more so he could capture him.

The soldier's speech slurred "See? You ain't all that old man. Bet the Batman woulda took ya hisself." The soldier is about to fall forward but is caught by a whip and brought backward onto his butt.

"What are you, dumb? Sober up and report to Nightwing." The soldier stands up slowly and salutes.

"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am." He stumbles out of the room and Catwoman sighs.

"Only a matter of time Ms. Kyle, one of these idiots is going to slip up. Then you're all going to die.

"You'll be lucky to see daylight again Slade. In fact, you're lucky we didn't let Wonder Woman kill you on the spot. Something about mercenaries just pisses her off. Or maybe she just doesn't like you. It's Mrs. Wayne by the way." Deathstroke laughs loudly.

"I forgot you were a domesticated cat now. You must have been a good kitty to get attached to the Wayne trust fund."

"Better than being a dog on a leash, don't you think? After all, you're in that nasty little cell and I'm out here. Who got the raw deal you think?"

"Watch your words kitty, these bars are for your protection not mine." Now Selina laughs at him.

"The truth stings doesn't it? Oh I remember Deathstroke the terminator, greatest contract killer on the planet. All I see in front of me now is a little slave doing his master's bidding. Don't tell me you got drafted into some little suicide squad or something."

"You really think you have enough lives left to taunt me? I've skinned tougher cats than you before." For the first time Deathstroke is sitting up and acknowledging someone's presence.

"I just don't get it really. You were living the mercenary life, weren't you? So much money to make and so many people to kill. Nice little assassin competitions between you and your friends. Now look at you, stripped down in a cell waiting for someone to free you. A regular Disney princess waiting for her prince to save her. If I didn't know better, I'd say you like it better this way."

"You're pushing it" he stands up and walks toward the bars "make your point or get out, you're pissing me off."

"You really like being on that short leash? Who does Savage even have you kill? Little old ladies that want some bread? Little freedom fighters that want a decent wage? I thought you only went for the big kills."

"Mostly kills that pay something like your soon-to-be-dead sugar daddy. Of course all of you are on my list now, I think I'll let him watch as you all die." Selina walks over to his sword and drags a claw on it making a slight screeching noise.

"You could do that sure, you would fail miserably, but you could try still. But you don't like this world any more than we do. You wanna pick your kills like the old days, and you wanna go after the big wigs pulling your leash. So why don't you?"

"They'll die when I want them too, but your family dies first." She gives him an evil eye, but she recognizes his game. He wants her to get closer, so he can use her to escape.

"So silly of you to pretend like you don't see the big picture. In the end they'll discard you like trash, a man like you is only useful when there is something important to kill. Once we are all dead who do you think is next? You might as well kill them now and save your own head from the chopping block." Deathstroke scoffs.

"So, you won't even pay me to do your dirty work? You don't have enough money to pay the contract you're asking for."

"Oh, little old me? I'd never put out a hit on anyone. Well maybe you, but that's beside the point. You have the means and circumstance to take the greatest kill that's ever existed. I'm just wondering if you even have the skill anymore to do it." Selina saunters away before stopping at the entrance to the room.

"Imagine how your asking price could rise after putting a certain immortal on your list of kills. Just a thought though, you can still go about failing to kill all of us if you'd like."

Deathstroke is staring at his sword as she exits, it was obvious where she was steering him. It was true that he didn't like being on anyone's payroll but his own, and the state of the world had him working less and less. There was barely anyone left to kill that payed a decent wage and, more importantly, less and less people that wanted someone dead. Sure, beating the Batman used to have his adrenaline pumping, but now that Batman was old Slade had become less interested. He had beat the Batman in his prime before but never killed him. Killing him now would only be a consolation prize. There were a few names worthy of his efforts on his list of impossible kills. Many of them were the ones responsible for his current predicament and were also pulling his "leash". Maybe it was time to put some immortals on his hitlist a bit higher than the Batman. But before anything insane like going after an immortal could be considered he had to get out of this damn cell.

As Selina exits the HQ she sees Nightwing berating the soldier she saved and gives him a wink. The sound of rubble being crushed draws her attention and she rushes to the town square to see what's happening. A large figure has a chunk of asphalt from the street in its hand after removing it from the entrance to someone's home. Barda was finally cooling down from her earlier battle.

"Well Well Well Barda aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Barda places the rubble down in the street, allowing the family to go back into their home.

"Sorry I'm late, there's so much fighting to do and so many places to do it. I'm truly spoiled."

"Ha! Glad you could spare us some of your fine talents then. Bruce sent you?"

"Yes, I was getting a little antsy while they were planning and plotting in the Cave. So, he sent me here to help. Seems like your mostly done here though." The area is pretty destroyed from the fighting, but people are starting to get through the debris more and more.

"Well sorry we don't have more for you to do. I'm sure that-" Oracle chirps in Selina's ear.

"All Knights report to the Cave. Priority One. Oh, and someone tell Barda we have something for her to hit finally." Selina smiles at that.

"Good news?"

"Very good news Barda. Time to do some real work." They both move towards the HQ to group up with Nightwing and head to the Batcave. Time for heroes young and old to come together for the greater good.

* * *

 _Central City_

Diana flies into Central City with butterflies in her stomach. She is happy to be able to see her nephew, but she spent so much time avoiding him before. She is nervous that he will be angry with her for avoiding him after Donna's death, for not taking him in and raising him. She feels ashamed and believes that Donna would be disappointed in her for not adopting Alan. Oracle gave her Alan's location in Central City and she was in front of the place before she even blinked. What could she say to him to convince him to join her now? After years of practically ignoring him why would he listen to anything she would have to say? She walks up to the door and knocks twice.

"It's open!"

She freezes as she hears his voice. Diana walks in slowly and admires the small space Alan now resides in, its big enough for one and doesn't have a lot beside a bedroom, a bathroom, and small kitchen. Alan walks out of the kitchen to greet his aunt.

"Diana. To what pleasure do I owe this visit?" Diana is startled at Alan's tone and rather emotionless greeting. This was the first time they were seeing each other in over 10 years.

"I wanted to see you Alan. It's been too long, and this visit is way overdue. How have you been?" Alan gestures her to follow him into the kitchen and she does.

"I have been well Diana, I'll admit I didn't expect to see you today. You have caught me off guard and unprepared for such an important guest. Would you like some tea?"

Diana notices Alan's garb as she enters the kitchen with him. He is wearing white pants and a white long sleeve shirt which has a black circle in the middle on his chest. His head was covered in raven colored hair that would have been long like Diana's if it wasn't in a pulled back ponytail. Even still the ponytail hangs down to his shoulders. He gave Diana a warm smile as she stared into his white eyes.

"Alan, we have so much to talk about, but I have to ask- "Alan cuts her off.

"Surely you have enough time to sit and have tea with me Diana. I'm sure we can talk about whatever you'd like." Diana sighs and makes to sit down at Alan's table. She notices just how clean and tidy Alan's place is as she sits. Alan pours her a cup of tea and a cup for himself before he sits down.

"Trouble is coming Alan, in fact you have seen it firsthand much more than I have. Superman, Batman, and I are going to make a stand, but we could use all the help we can get. I'm here to ask you to join the Justice League. I know you may be hesitant because of your powers, but I assure you we could use your help immensely."

"So that's why you're really here? Not to talk?" Alan is rather monotone while he questions her intentions for visiting. He takes a sip of tea after replying.

"I would love to sit here and say everything and make every apology I need to make, but time is of the essence and I need to know whether or not you will help." Alan simply stares at her and takes another sip of tea.

"What apologies Diana?"

Diana sighs heavily, she wanted to get this over with and deal with her situation with Alan another day. That would make her a hypocrite however, since she made Kal and Bruce make up for the good of the team. Now it was her turn to make peace with her poor decision making.

"I need to apologize for not taking you in, for abandoning you when you needed me most. I need to apologize for avoiding you all these years because you remind me of Donna. I need to apologize for hurting you because of my own pain. I need to apologize for coming here and being short with you. I- "

The sudden outpour startles her, where had that all come from?

"So why don't you just apologize? Then you can move on."

"Alan, I've done so much wrong to you. I have shamed myself and disappointed Donna with my actions, I'm sure of it. You deserve more than my empty apologies."

"They aren't empty Diana. I can feel your outpour of sorrow and fear. You think I would reject my family? My mother would have been disappointed with you, but I don't think for a moment that she wouldn't forgive you once you came back. So, I forgive you Diana. For all those things that you did or didn't do you have my forgiveness."

Diana is surprised and concerned. She did not expect Alan to be like this, outside of him telling him to come in, his voice has barely inflected at all. He should be angry or sad, but he is showing no emotion at all toward her.

"I'm sorry Alan. When you were born I was so proud of Donna for stepping into motherhood so confidently. She was my role model in that regard. But when we lost her and Kyle… You reminded me of her, every time I looked at you I saw her, and it hurt. So, I avoided you to avoid the pain. It was weak of me to do so, and I was a coward. I am truly sorry, and I am thankful for your forgiveness."

"See? That's not so hard. Thank you. You should drink that tea while it is still hot. It's good for relieving stress." Diana takes a sip and is grateful she did. She feels like years of emotional weight and guilt have been lifted from her shoulders.

"How have you actually been Alan? I know you were having trouble with your powers, is everything okay now?"

"Yes, I still have some ways to go but I am making good progress in maintaining and sustaining control no matter what I come across. Living in a place like Central City has pushed me to my limits and allowed me to grow emotionally. I don't think I'm ready to fight though, I still have to pass another test before that."

"A test? What is it?" asks Diana curiously.

"It will require me to feel a multitude of emotions at once and still maintain control. When I use my power, or I get too excited or upset I start giving off energy of one of the spectrums. Usually whichever one I'm feeling the most. In a battle I will be tested in that way repeatedly. So, once I have passed this test I will be able to join you." Diana has finished her tea but is receiving a message from Oracle in her ear. Her look turns solemn as she receives her message.

"Are you sure you cannot join us now? Maybe your final test will be with us." She raises to leave, Alan ushers her toward the door.

"You will know when I am ready Diana. I will come to you first." They hug as they reach the door and Diana wants to try one more thing before leaving to return to the Batcave.

"They have Wally and Linda. Alan, we are going to save them soon. Perhaps you can join us to help?"

Alan stares at her shocked, "The world government has them? Where?" His eyes start to turn a little red while his clothing begins to turn yellow. His tone is much starker and for the first time Diana heard the emotion in his voice. Fear and anger were beginning to build in him

"Come with me, you can help us save them at least and then you can come back here to keep working on your control."

"I…I- "Alan bows his head and closes his eyes while taking a deep breath. "I can't, I wish you luck in saving them Diana. I would like to see them again."

Diana sighs "We will save them Alan, I know they would love to see you too."

Diana took to the skies after giving Alan a quick nod. If nothing would light a fire under her nephew, it would be family. Wally and Linda adopted Alan when he was young, and Diana knew he loved them like he loved Donna and Kyle. Maybe Wally and Linda could convince him better than she could. As she took to the skies and made her way to Gotham she prepares mentally for the battles to be fought in the future. The drums of war are sounding and it's time for action.

Alan closes his door after watching her fly away. He walks to the kitchen slowly and contemplates what he wants to do. The power he has inside him is volatile, if he overreacts to anything he could level a whole city with one errant emotion. But saving his adoptive parents, getting to see them again and saving them from the clutches of mad men who were hurting them. Alan picks up his cup to finish his tea, but he can't control it any more. His clothes are turning deep red and his eyes turned the color as soon as he closed the door. He crushes the teacup in his hand and tries to take some deep breaths as he clutches his chair.

The rage is emanating off him now and growing. He asks himself, what's the point of having this power if he won't use it to save and protect his loved ones. His breathing begins to even out, but the color he's emitting is turned to yellow. What if they were hurt? Or killed? He's taken the last 10 years to master his powers and, in the process, lost his connection to the people he cares for. Losing Linda and Wally would hurt him all over again, that would be more devastating than him losing control a little bit. They must be okay, and he must make sure no one can take his family from him again. He can find a way to control his emotions and still be connected to his loved ones. The energy is dissipating from around him while the color of his clothes returns to white except inside the black circle where it is blue. His eyes change to blue as well.

"Maybe by using this power I have, I can control it better. I don't have to be afraid of it anymore and I can use it to save them. Mother always said that a warrior that masters their heart can win any battle." Alan looks up "I wish you were here Mom and Dad, now more than ever. I need your wisdom and your talent. You made it seem so easy to save the day sometimes. Can you pass a little of that onto me now?"

His color changes again, but this time to green. He creates a green headband that covers his eyes and wraps around his head as a mask. His clothes are covered by a more form fitting suit but retains its now dark emerald green color. The black circle persists on his chest and is filled with emerald green while his eyes are returning to white.

"I will make you proud."

* * *

 **Author's** **Note: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and everything else. Alan's character has been a little complex for me to write since I have changed what I wanted him to be like multiple times in my head. If you can, tell me what you think of him so far. I won't be doing a total backstory for him, but I may consider it if it fits the story. The story has a couple more buildup chapters before we get to the crazy climax I'm building too. Lots of stuff going on so I'm making sure I take the time to consider everything I have set up before I move on. Thanks again and Enjoy!**


	14. Chapter 14

_Gotham, Wayne Manor_

Lara wakes up after hearing some loud shouting. She sits up and yawns as she stretches her arms out. She's wearing something she isn't used to and its tight, like a second skin. She rubs her eyes and makes out the red 'S' on her chest. Her eyes go wide, and she realizes she wasn't dreaming last night. She really did get her own suit, and it is freaking sweet. She looks around for someone to celebrate with, but her parents aren't in the room. She gets out of the bed and works her way to the kitchen to find no one there either. She is about to go to the Batcave when she hears a slight sound behind her.

Lara calls out in no particular direction "I believe it is considered bad for your health to try and surprise an amazon." No more movement, but she knows someone is in the room with her.

"Hide and Seek then? I'm game."

Lara turns around slowly and sees one of the windows is open. She walks over to close it, so she can focus on the sounds in the room, but she still can't hear a thing. She leaves the kitchen to go to the Cave, but she is just waiting outside the kitchen for someone to reveal themselves. After a minute she can hear nothing else, so she turns to walk away and bumps right into Damian.

"Ha! I knew someone was in there."

"I haven't been in the kitchen since I entered 5 minutes ago. You should work on those super senses, If I was trying to kill you, you would be dead."

Lara scoffs "If you were trying to kill me I'd put you through a wall and stab you with that silly sword. You're just sour because I saw you in the Cave when no one else did."

"It was obviously a fluke since you didn't see or hear me just now. Like I said work on those senses." Damian turns to walk away and Lara smiles. If she didn't know better, she would think she was talking to the Batman himself.

"I guess you're just mad because I'm taller than you." Damian stops in his tracks and her smile grows. In an instant he pulls his sword and points it at her neck.

"It's bad for your health to insult me."

"Do you really think you could hit me? I mean sure the sword gives you more reach, but I think without it you couldn't even reach my chin with those short arms." Damian sheathes his sword then takes a swing at her, but Lara steps back out of his reach and speeds behind him to flip his cape over his head and push him down.

"You should work on your warrior skills Robin, you might have been killed if I actually wanted to hurt you."

Damian swings back around after getting from under his cape, but Lara has already sped away. He had wanted to test himself against the little alien, but it seems she had more training than he estimated. As he gets up to go to the Cave he's sure he just made the little alien's day. Lara made her way down the cave steps happy as a clam. She had the bragging rights along with hurting his pride. Only 10 years old and she beat Robin.

* * *

 _Gotham, The Batcave_

"-If you agree to do this you can meet me at this neutral location, so we can discuss terms for the future meeting with the President and a ceasefire can be agreed upon. You have 2 hours to respond." The message finishes and silence rings throughout the Cave till Oracle speaks up.

"So that was weird right? I'm not the only one who thought that was bizarre, right?"

"It was a waste of her time to do that, she can't expect us to be dumb enough to walk into- "Bruce stops as he turns to Clark and he sees him contemplating it. "You can't be seriously considering what she said."

"Why wouldn't I?" Clark is just looking at the screen and thinking of how to turn this into a good situation. Bruce is rubbing his temples, so he doesn't get a migraine from the bad idea he's about to hear from Clark.

"Oracle give us a minute. And get everyone to the Cave, we are going to strike soon."

"Play nice you two."

Clark turns to Bruce with a grin on his face.

"You want to spring the trap? You realize this is clearly a trap, right? Meant to take one of our newly acquired big guns out of commission."

"Hear me out Bruce." He groans.

"I know you have been on ice for a while, but you can't have lost all your brain cells while you were up there. The chances of this being a trap for you are too damn high for you to just walk into this."

"This was the plan anyways Bruce. Throw me in the fire to catch all the flak, then save Wally and Linda. Waller is just giving us a perfect opportunity to do it now rather than later."

"Please try to understand how bad of an idea this is. Instead of having some element of surprise you will be walking into a firing gallery where you don't know where the shooters are."

"I'm bulletproof Bruce."

"NO! You don't get to be funny with this. Think about Lara and Diana. You can't put your neck out for Waller to hack at with all the kryptonite she can muster."

"I have no intentions of dying out there, and we know that if this trap is for me she will throw her best at me. What are the chances of Wally and Linda being freed with Waller focusing right on me?" They are staring each other down.

"If this trap is for you, she will throw every Hero Hunter she has at you. So, Wally and Linda are as good as free."

"That's my point, we want them free. This will make it even easier."

"We can't just trade you for them. That's what this will be Clark, you can't underestimate those things. They have killed and captured more of our friends than you know." They can hear footsteps coming down the stairs now and Lara has appeared.

"You wound me Bruce, you think I can't take some robots on? Even with kryptonite they will have a hard time keeping me down." He looks to Lara as she gets closer "I've got too much to come back to."

The cave is starting to get noisy with arrivals of Selina, Dick, and Barda followed by Jason and Tim.

"Diana won't like this Clark, good luck getting it past her."

"Let me worry about my wife, Bruce. Just make sure you get to Wally and Linda."

* * *

Lara is freaking out a bit after seeing Big Barda, number 8 on her favorite hero list. She wasn't sure if Barda was a hugger, so she sped up to her and asked very politely if she could hug her cause she was so cool. Barda agreed but was surprised to be having the air squeezed out of her. The Knights were all there now and were crowded around Bruce receiving their orders with Selina standing by and listening intently. As Diana arrived she caught Kal's eyes and he gestures for her to come over.

"For now, we need to focus on evacuation. Dick has the Titans helping the civilians that are left in Bludhaven. Jason, Cass, Steph, and Selina can evacuate Metropolis and Central City to Gotham while the rest of you help the League getting Wally and Linda." The Knights are nodding and looking to each other then back to Bruce. "Our window will be brief, and we can't afford to linger at either of these facilities for too long. Tim will be going with Barda and Diana, he can provide tech support with Oracle. Dick and Damian can get Linda since she is just in a regular holding facility that's not far away. We move soon, so get your gear and be ready."

Diana is a little confused "You started without me?"

"Your dismissed for now, be ready in the next 15 minutes." The Knights disperse and Barda joins the 3 of them with Lara following her and continuing to fangirl.

Kal speaks up "We have a plan, but you aren't going to like it."

"Why not? Has something changed?"

Bruce turns to the computer to play the message from Waller. Diana's still a little confused.

"Why does that change anything? It's clearly a trap and has nothing to do with Wally or Linda."

Bruce nods to Kal "He wants to spring the trap."

Diana looks at Kal incredulously "What? Why?"

"It makes sense if you just think about it."

"How could walking straight into a trap ever make sense? Waller knows Batman would never walk into a farce like this, so it must be for you. She knows you would jump at a chance for peace like this."

"I'm going in expecting a fight Diana, I know- "

"No, that's the point. You don't know what she has in store, you don't know what tricks she will pull. This is a terrible idea Kal and you know it."

"I need to do this Diana, getting to Wally is going to be easy with these Hero Hunters out of the way."

Lara is now looking at the two of them expectantly. Diana never really had to argue with her sisters on the island, and if she did she usually won the argument or got her way. It wasn't good for her to see her mother and father arguing however.

"Come with me" Diana floats away to go deeper into the Cave "we'll just be a second."

Kal follows her till they get to a lower level of the Cave where she stops with her back turned to him.

"Why do you need this Kal? Because of your guilt?"

"He would do it for me Diana, you know he would." Diana hangs her head and sighs heavily.

"I don't want to lose you again Kal. I can't afford to, none of us can. Please rethink this." He walks up to her and wraps his arms around her from behind.

"I can handle this Diana, I know it seems like I'm just jumping into the fray without much thought. But I am thinking this through. I can do this, and when it's done I'll see you and Lara and everyone else. This isn't my last battle, not by a longshot." Diana turns in his arms, so that they are face to face.

She says with a smile "How are you so good at making me believe you?"

He returns her smile "I believe in myself Diana, and I believe in you. I'm coming back to you and I won't let anything stop me."

They kiss for what is probably the millionth time but feels just like the first. They will see each other again, yet they touch as if it will be the last time for centuries. Each second savored beyond anyone else's recognition. Each moment punctuated with the feeling of being utterly lost in each other's embrace. It was only a few seconds and would have lasted longer if they didn't hear some commotion above them.

Diana and Kal look up to see Lara floating in an opening above them on the level where everyone was. And there's a green light that just appeared next to her, seemingly out of thin air.

"Lara!" Kal shoots to her position and grabs the thing by the neck, holding it away from Lara.

Lara calls out "Daddy stop!"

"Reveal yourself!" The being continues to outline itself changing its all green to reveal a face Kal hasn't seen in a long time.

"It's just me Uncle, sorry to have startled you. I didn't know how I should announce myself and young Lara was advising me to just show myself." Kal loosens his grip as he watches a familiar face appear.

Diana has arrived beside them "Alan! What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Kal lets go of him as he begins to reveal his face from under the mask he had on. He's now completely green save from the black circle on his chest, his raven colored hair, and tan face.

"Everything is fine Diana, I decided that I can no longer hide myself away and suppress my emotions. I want to help you save Wally and Linda. And if the offer still stands I'd be happy to join the Justice League in their fight as well." They all start to float toward Barda, Selina, and Bruce who are waiting expectantly.

Bruce asks, "So you'll be joining us then?"

Alan nods "It's time for me to be more proactive Batman. I can only learn so much about control while meditating and drinking tea." Bruce smirks at him before turning back to the computer. Selina, Diana, Kal, Barda, Lara and Alan gather around Bruce for the briefing.

"The original plan was for Superman to meet Waller, then we move on Wally and Linda at the same time. But with Alan maybe we can be a bit more flexible."

"What do you mean?"

"For whatever reason, Alan seems to be undetectable by anything I have on deck. And I'm guessing it was even hard for Clark to notice him." Clark nods yes.

"If that's the case then he can provide air support for our team to get Wally. Once our team gets in, it should be easier for them to extract Wally. Then we can provide support for Clark if he needs it."

"Make sure Wally and Linda are safe, I'll be fine."

"If I may" Alan speaks up "I think it would be wiser for me to be in an area where I couldn't harm someone by losing control. If it comes down to it, I'd like to be somewhere where I couldn't hurt anyone."

Barda laughs "Ha! You need to toughen up. Someone's going to get hurt by the time we are done. Settle with that now, or you'll be no use to us."

Diana tries to reassure him "Alan there isn't really somewhere in the plan where you wouldn't be able to hurt someone. But I'm confident in your control and I know you can do this."

Selina tries to be supportive as well "Alan's going to be an unknown for them, like Barda, but maybe we can use him sparingly. He could help Clark out in that ambush, or just be an emergency response if Diana's team needs help."

Bruce has an idea, "He can help Diana, Barda, and Tim get close to Wally undetected. When Clark gets close enough they can start the assault and get to Wally. Then, once they have Wally, he can get them back out."

"If that's the best way for me to assist than I'm willing to try. My constructs could use some work, but I think I can make something simple enough to get us there and back."

"What about me?" Everyone looks to Lara.

Diana crouches in front of her "You'll be staying here for this one Lara, there is too much unknown for us to risk it."

"But I can fight Mommy! I can help!"

"I know sweetie, but for now I need you to stay here and stay safe. Do it for me okay?"

Selena offers "She can help with the evacuations too. I'll bet we will be done in no time with her help." Lara is pouting and tries her saddest look on Kal to get him on her side.

"You can help out here Lara. Your mother is right, we don't know enough about what could be waiting for us out there. We'll be back before you know it." She slumps her shoulders in defeat.

"Okay." She walks to join Cass, Jason, and Steph with Selina.

"Eager for battle already? She must take after her mother." Barda grins at Diana and Kal.

"So me, Barda, Tim, and Alan can go ahead to save Wally. We will wait for your signal to begin the assault. When we are done we will rendezvous back here?" Bruce nods to Diana.

"Damian and Dick will be waiting for the signal too. Make sure you make some noise Clark."

"I plan to" Kal grins "What about Atlantis? Have we heard anything yet?"

Oracle responds "No and the chatter has died out completely. It's like a blackout, and the transponder still isn't transmitting."

"One problem at a time. We are already stretched thin. Hopefully they can hold on till we can get to them."

"Then it is decided, let us move with haste." Diana walks up to Kal "Be safe my love." She places a hand on his chest and he reciprocates with his hand on her shoulder, a brief touch before they part ways. A reminder that they will see each other again.

"You too." Her, Barda and Alan collect Tim and make their way outside. Dick and Damian are already in the batplane ready to takeoff.

"I couldn't help but notice you seem to be sitting this one out." Clark is scanning him to see of the wounds from Deathstroke are healing properly.

"I would, but I've been sidelined by…"

"By me." Selina walks up to them "Just till those wounds heal properly, we can get by and you can rest. If anyone needs it, it's you."

"Yeah Yeah, I heard you the first time." Clark smiles at them, he's glad his friend found someone as hard headed and stubborn as him.

"Won't be the same without you old friend. I'll be sure to tell you when."

"Quit it with the old stuff. And, by the way, make it loud Clark. The more trouble you cause the more forces you will attract."

"Well when you put it that way…" He smiles and takes off before waving to Damian and Dick about to go through a tunnel in the cave.

"The kids will be fine Bruce. No need to worry."

"I'm not worried, this is what I have been training them for."

"You sure? I thought I saw a little worry in your face." She leans in close to him.

"It's just wrinkles Cat."

"You're aging like fine wine Bat, sweeter as the days go by." She gives him her cheshire cat smile and bends down for a kiss. "Lara is going with Cass and Steph to Central City. Jason and I have Metropolis. By the way, what do we do about Deathstroke?"

"You talked to him?" Selina nods.

"He might take the bait, when he cools off a bit. You really think he can do it?"

"If he puts his mind to it? I'm certain he can, with a little help. Make sure the civilians and resistance personnel are clear. Then we can move him to Arkham."

Selina salutes "Sir yes sir!" She walks away, and he smiles before turning back to the computer.

With the Justice League, or anything that he planned, Batman was always hands on. He always played a direct role in the plans he made to save the day. Sitting behind the batcomputer wasn't were he wanted to be, but he knew it was where he would be most useful for now. Maybe this was just the start of this new world they were fighting for. He just hoped the Justice League's first mission in 10 years would be a success.

"Oracle, let's get everyone connected. The Justice League is back."

* * *

 **Author's Note: The stage has been set! The next chapters will have more action I promise. I'm not sure if all the talking has been boring for some of you, but it certainly has tried my patience lol. Let me know if you have questions or if I didn't explain something properly. I'm taking any constructive criticism I can get on this story. Also thank you again for the kind words and encouragement.**

 **I noticed that I didn't mention Alan's age, but that's because I'm still working on that backstory of his. I'm not sure if Lara's childish/mature personality is shining through properly. I wanted it to seem like she has 2 different modes or mentalities depending on the situation. Which is a byproduct of who she is and how she was raised (on Themyscira). Also, if you haven't noticed, my guilty pleasure is having Lara say "Ohmygoddess" or pretty much anything bat related (i.e. batarangs, batcave, batplane, etc…) so I have tried to tone that down a bit.**

 **There are gonna be some proper throwdowns in the chapters to come, so I hope I can describe the action in a coherent way. We might be going underwater in the next chapter. As always, thank you for coming this far and reading. Please review, if you have the time, and tell me about what you liked or hated or didn't understand. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15

_The Underwater City of Atlantis, Throne Room_

The hero formerly known as Aquaman sits on his throne frustrated. Being the king of Atlantis in these times has caused his hair to go grey early. The surface world is in chaos, ruled by a government that willingly makes its people into mindless workers. Arthur's deal with Vandal Savage was a simple one, don't disturb his kingdom and Arthur will not attack the world government. He even gave support to Vandal on occasion when it was mutually beneficial. Protecting his kingdom came before everything else, but that wasn't why he was greying despite his Atlantean physiology. His daughter was stressing him more than anything else. She just didn't understand the weight and responsibility of the crown.

Serenity Curry reminded him of himself and Mera. A perfect mixture of the two of them in almost every way. She had Arthur's blonde hair, that she usually braided in a long ponytail down her back and shared her parents blue eye color. She was an adult by Atlantean standards and the heir to the throne. However as of late she had used her standing for her own agenda that often had her speak against her father's dealings with the surface world. She called for Atlantis, in addition for all the other kingdoms in the sea, to rebel and join the resistance against the surface world. She condemned Vandal Savage for basically enslaving the surface world and trying to destroy his own people. Serenity implied that being in league with the tyrant made them complicit in all the gruesome things he did to maintain control.

Atlanteans have always been isolationist in nature, but not pacifists. If attacked they would call for hell and brimstone to be brought down on their attackers, no matter who they were. Serenity's calls to action in the surface world were ignored by everyone, but more importantly her father had silenced her. She gave no more speeches and met with no other dignitaries, either from kingdoms under the sea or above it. Now she had brought Vandal Savage down on Arthur's head for allegedly conspiring with the resistance, which was a direct violation of their pact.

"Are you calling me a liar Arthur? I thought we were allies." Arthur shakes his head.

"I have made no contact with anyone in the surface world besides you Savage, and I need no reminding of our deal." Vandal scoffs.

"So, you are either a liar or you are incompetent, and somebody is allied with the resistance under your roof."

"You will not speak to me that way! I am no sniveling underling for you to berate! I am the King of the Seven Seas and you would do well to remember that!"

"And I rule the world above your seas your highness, don't forget what I can bring down on you as well." Arthur is seething with rage at the threat.

"You dare threaten me!"

"Resolve this issue Arthur or my threats will turn into promises." The connection is cut. The King is irate, and he knows the princess is to blame.

"Mera bring her here now!" As if she knew her father would call for her, Serenity enters the throne room with a serious look on her face.

"I'm here father."

Arthur roars "What have you done!"

"Lower your voice Arthur, the whole kingdom can hear you." Serenity stops in front of her mother and father with her head held high.

Mera asks calmly "Serenity have you done something to earn your father's wrath?" Serenity produces the old JL communicator that she took from her parent's old things. She tosses it to Arthur and the message plays.

"I have only done what the king should have done years ago. I have received a message from Batman. He is calling ALL remaining members of the Justice league to reunite against the world government and Vandal Savage. I responded to his hail."

"Foolish girl! The destruction you will bring to us is beyond your comprehension."

"Should I wait till I am Queen and fight the surface world after your death? Should I pacify my brothers and sisters and tell them that the surface world wishes them no harm? After that tyrant has full control of the surface he will come for us next. I will not lie in wait for him to strike. I will join the resistance with or without your blessing and free us of this poisonous bond."

"You are not allowed to leave Atlantis Serenity. No Atlantean may journey to the surface world." Serenity looks to her father.

"Will you imprison me?"

Mera interjects, "We would never do that to you Serenity." She would need to calm the situation before one of them would do something they regretted. "We just- ".

Arthur interrupts her "If you leave now and join Batman you are banished from any kingdom under the sea. Forever!"

Mera yells "Arthur!"

"Then I am banished" Serenity turns to swim away "Goodbye Mother I wish you well for the rest of your days."

"No! Serenity! Wait!" Mera turns to Arthur "Can you not see that's what she wanted? That was a test and you failed miserably, again."

"She openly defies her King Mera. What would you have me do?"

"Be her father for starters. And maybe try to see that she is right. We cannot play this game with the surface world forever, you must know that Vandal's ambitions will turn to us eventually. Now you leave Atlantis with no future. I will go to her, then we will talk about this again. As a family." She goes to swim after Serenity.

"We are the royal family Mera, we have a duty to protect our people." Mera stops and turns to him before exiting the throne room.

"All these years have passed, and you seem to only remember your duties as King and not as a Father." She swims away, and Arthur stands to descend from the throne. He looks to the old JL communicator with a mix of rage and fondness as he crushes it in his hands.

If only he could make Serenity understand that open war meant no one would win. The world would be destroyed if he clashed with Vandal. The war would no doubt make the planet unlivable due to nuclear radiation and pollution of the waters they needed to survive. How could he help her to see what her defiance would cost every Atlantean? Her actions would cause the death of many. Arthur was lost in his thoughts and concern for his daughter. He was too distracted to notice someone emerging from the darkness behind him.

A mechanized voice calls out behind Arthur "Troubles at home your highness?" He swings around and readies his trident toward the voice.

"Whose there? Reveal yourself!"

"You mean you don't recognize me old friend?" A sliver of red appears before a beam shoots out of the darkness and hits Arthur in his chest and sends him backwards onto his back.

"You couldn't have forgotten me after all these years. I know I've left my mark on you in more ways than anyone else." Arthur uses his trident to get up on one knee as the figure stalks forward out of the darkness.

"Black Manta" Arthur spits out blood "it hasn't been long enough."

"That's alright your kingliness, you won't be seeing me again after today. Matter of fact, you won't be seeing anyone else!" Manta takes out 2 daggers and readies himself to fight.

"You will find yourself on the wrong end of my trident Manta and this time you won't survive."

The two mortal enemies prepare to faceoff for the last time.

* * *

Serenity swam to her room to collect the supplies she set out before she confronted her father. She adorned her custom Atlantean armor overtop her scaled green royal garb that matched her mother's. The armor allowed her to store water for when she emerged and walked on the surface. It was very useful for maintaining her strength and for forming hard water constructs with her hydro-kinesis. The light grey armor covered her body except for her left arm which was only covered by a golden forearm guard to allow her to channel the water from the armor for her manipulation when necessary. As she finished placing the armor on the reality of what just happened hit her. Her open defiance of her father had gained her banishment from the only home she knew. She felt sorrow at the thought of fighting to free Atlantis only to never be able to return.

Things hadn't always been this way between her and her father, they had been almost inseparable until he made his pact with Vandal Savage. He taught her everything he knew about the surface world and her home under the sea. He trained her on how to use his trident for when she was old enough to wield it. Now they were practically adversaries, they only met when Mera would bring them together. There would be no conversation without a fight and an outpour of rage. Neither would concede or bend for the other's viewpoint. Mera wished her husband and daughter could see just how alike they were. She silently scorned herself for not being able to find a way to get through to both of them. There was no disagreement that was worth destroying their bonds as a family

Serenity heard knocking on her door and became hardened again, she would live on the surface if it meant Atlantis would be free of Vandal Savage. Her sacrifice meant freedom for the entire world. Her mother entered, of course she followed her to try to convince her to stay and talk to her father. If she returned to that throne room, there would only be yelling and screaming. Perhaps even a fight would erupt.

"Serenity stop for a second and consider what you are doing." Serenity continues preparing to leave with her back turned to Mera.

"I have planned this for some time, Batman's message simply hardened my resolve. I won't stand by and wait anymore."

"Please just wait. At least till tomorrow. Let this calm down so we can discuss this further."

"The king has made his decree mother. And his word his law." Mera grabs her shoulder to turn Serenity toward her.

"We will meet as a family. As mother, daughter and father to resolve this. If you leave now without speaking to him on calmer terms you will regret it." Serenity is staring into her mother's eyes with determination and a little bit of sadness.

"No more words mother, no more admonishments and excuses. He sullies the crown and ruins our name because of his cowardice. The man who sits on that throne is no longer someone I would call Father or King."

"Please Serenity. For me? Just till tonight, we can dine and discuss this. If nothing will change then…." Mera hesitates. "Then you can at least say your goodbyes properly."

"How can you stand by him and fight for him when he shows such weakness in the face of tyranny? He brings dishonor to Atlantis with his actions."

"I love him Serenity, for his strengths and weaknesses. But he must consider his kingdom when doing anything. Perhaps tonight he will see where he should also focus, his family."

Serenity holds back her tears at her mother's words. She owed her mother this at least. One more night to try and convince him, to make him see the truth. Maybe they could go back to being a family if he could only see what was truly needed. If he could see that the world needed him to be Aquaman once more.

 **BOOM. BOOM.** **BOOM. BOOM.**

Serenity and Mera's embrace was interrupted by multiple explosions far away on the outskirts of Atlantis. Mera rushes to a window in the room and sees a multitude of submarines sieging Atlantis's magical shields. They are under attack.

"Mother! What is it?"

"We are under attack. Go to the throne and get your father. I will find Orm, so we can counter attack against whoever this is."

"It's Vandal Savage mother, you know it is. He has finally put his sights on Atlantis." Mera turns to her and smiles.

"Then he has finally lost his mind. Go now, your King needs you." Mera leaves toward the barracks to find Orm as Serenity goes back to the throne room. Mera and Orm catch up with each other as they rush toward their generals.

"It's the surface world Mera, the shapes bear Savages logo." Orm shows Mera a picture of the symbol on the subs. It is a simple circle with and emblazoned eye in the middle, all the world government's forces wear it proudly.

"Have they deployed any forces?"

"No, there subs keep hammering away at our shield. We should counter attack and flank them to end this quickly."

"They know they can't penetrate the shields, they would have to be inside to take it down." Mera turns to him as they approach the war chamber. The generals are there waiting for attack orders, but Arthur and Serenity haven't arrived yet.

"Even if they were inside, they would need the trident to destroy the generators or lower the shield." Mera's eyes go wide with realization.

"It's a distraction!" She makes to swim to the throne room and launches herself with a magic spell to go faster. The generals look to their commander in confusion and Orm turns to them after making the realization himself.

"To the King! NOW!"

* * *

Arthur and Black Manta clash trident against swords. Arthur's age means nothing while he's underwater as he is just as fast and strong as always. Manta is more reliant on his suit now, but underwater he relies on it completely. Titanium fused plating and tubes cover the armor he wears, and his manta ray packs a much bigger punch due to some improvements given to him by Vandal Savage. Arthur pushes Manta back and swings his trident toward Manta's head. He ducks the blow and counters with quick slashes toward Arthur's midsection that push Arthur back. Manta launches himself upward and unleashes another blast which Arthur evades. But Manta comes down on him with his swords and jets past him. Arthur avoids one but gets nicked by the other on his arm.

"Seems you have gotten slower Manta. Maybe you should consider retiring." Arthur suddenly gets tired.

"It's true, I have aged some. But I'm still god enough to get you good once. That's all I needed." Arthur's vision is getting blurry and he falls to one knee.

"That's poison your highness. The finest I could muster. I decided that you don't need to be alive anymore to suffer. Your death will be the first among millions."

 **BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.**

Arthur releases the trident and it falls as he is trying to keep himself upright with both hands. Black Manta walks over to him slowly, trying to savor the small moments before his adversary dies.

"In death you can know that Atlantis will burn by my hand. But, you won't live to see it like I planned all these years. Savage can be quite convincing when he isn't droning on about being immortal." He picks up the trident.

"He sends his regards and wishes you a painful death Arthur." He raises the trident to impale Arthur with it. "This, is for my father."

"Father!" Black Manta looks to the voice only to see a column of water right before it collides with him and pushes him into a throne room wall. Serenity holds the column and tries to restrain Manta before a bright red beam blasts through it. She hurries to her father's side to see him facedown and barely breathing.

"Wake up. Please wake up!" Manta laughs at her.

"His organs are shutting down. He's dying little girl and you won't be able to save him. Now hand me that trident, I have a city to destroy."

Serenity picks up the trident and points it toward him "Fiend! My father should have ended you years ago. I will not make the same mistake." She creates a hard water shield on her left arm and wields the trident in her right hand. She will defend her Father with her life.

"I guess neither one of you will live to see Atlantis DIE!"

He unleashes another beam, but Serenity blocks it with her shield and plants the trident into the ground, so she doesn't budge. Manta gets closer but keeps his distance while pelting her with multiple blasts. He clearly wants to get past her and finish off his kill before moving onto her. She waits for a pause in the barrage and finds her moment to knock him off balance. She throws her shield at his feet and he launches upward. She rises above him quickly, avoiding his reactionary manta ray and creates another shield to bash down on his helmet. He gets pushed back and she follows up by throwing the trident at his head which he dodges, but she also throws her shield again at his midsection and it connects.

Manta gets launched backwards against the wall as Serenity follows through to collide into him. The blow shakes the room and causes some rubble to fall. Serenity is punching Manta and the blows are staggering him, but the plating is protecting him too well for her to do real damage to him. Manta has dropped his swords as he tries to fend off Serenity's strikes and is starting to gain some separation between the two of them. A final punch with all her strength to his midsection collapses the armor and causes him to gasp for air and hunch over. Serenity grabs his helmet and brings it down to knee him. His head whips all the way back and he is pressed against the wall as Serenity clasps her hands around his throat. He struggles to get her hands off him and she picks him up and slams him to the ground before slamming him back into the wall.

"This is for my father, whose life has been polluted with madmen like you, and my brother who you slaughtered in his crib like a coward. I avenge them in Atlantis's name."

Serenity is trying to squeeze the life out of Manta and he is beginning to lose consciousness and stops fighting back.

"Arthur!" Serenity looks back to see her mother panicked and rushing to her father's side. Mera pulls Arthur into her lap, purple veins are going up his neck and he is very pale. Mera recognizes that he has been poisoned and needs a healer if he is going to survive.

"Serenity come here! I need your help." Serenity hears her mother, but she is still seeing red and trying to make sure Manta dies.

"Please, Serenity your father will die if you don't help me." She hesitates but drops Manta reluctantly and swims toward her parents. As she gets close Orm and the royal guard enter the throne room.

She points them to Black Manta "Secure the assassin, Atlantis is not done with him yet."

"What do you need me to do Mother?"

"Sit and focus. We need to stop the poison from spreading further and reaching his heart, so he will live long enough to make it to a healer. I need you to help me draw the poison out through his pores. Use that spell you learned to heat the water around his body, that will open his pores."

Serenity hesitates "I haven't practiced that one in a while, I don't know- "

"There's not time for self-doubt my daughter. I know you can do this. I know you are strong enough to save his life."

She reaches out to hold her hand and they both settle into the task. Mera's eyes start to glow and Serenity begins a chant. Arthur's body temperature raises and Mera begins drawing the poison out. She is straining, but they finally get enough for Arthur's color to return.

 **BOOM.**

Orm and the royal guard have secured Manta, they are taking him out when a large orange portal opens in the middle of the throne room between the royal family and Orm with the guards. Droids begin pouring out of the portal and shooting at the two groups. Serenity forms a shield in front of her parents as Mera is too fatigued from removing the poison from Arthur and he is still unconscious. The robots are pelting her shield with lasers and she is holding. On the other side Orm and his guard are being pushed back and the droids are cutting them down to get to Manta. They retrieve him and begin ushering him toward the portal.

"NO!"

Serenity sees Manta about to escape and pushes her shield through the robots in front of her, crushing them. She forms her hard water shield again and blocks the firing droids fire while approaching and taking them out one by one however she can. The droid carrying Manta is at the portal and Serenity gets through the droids in front of her just in time. She forms a water whip and throws it forward around Manta as he is halfway through the portal. She is pulling and almost gets him all the way out with the droid, but a small red beam shoots through the portal and transforms into a giant shark that collides with her. She gets shoved through the throne, destroying it, and embedded into the wall behind it. Serenity loses consciousness and the last thing she hears is the booming sound of the portal closing.

* * *

 _Undisclosed location_

Manta is dragged through the portal by the red beam, all the droids were destroyed or left behind. He is brought face to face with what some might consider the very incarnation of rage itself, Atrocitus. His hulking form was coupled with an organic bone shell armor that matched the red lantern's blood red coloring.

"FOOL! If you've cost me my red lantern I will turn you inside out!"

"That's enough for now, let us rejoin our allies. We will need to move soon." Vandal gestures to some nearby droids. "Take him to the infirmary and restrain him after his wounds are treated."

"I will not be denied Savage, I've felt this rage from the cosmos. It is the key to destroying the Guardians." Atrocitus tosses Manta's unconscious body to the ground and he is gathered by droids and taken away. Vandal walks out of the room with Atrocitus following him.

"Your concern is noted comrade, I promised to deliver the source of that rage to you for your cause. And you will have it." The red lantern grunts in response. As soon as he felt such a giant concentration of rage on Earth he came immediately but has been held up by this immortal who seemingly runs things now. Atrocitus was not known for his patience however, so Vandal would need to deliver soon if he wanted to keep his loyalty.

Vandal and Atrocitus enter the room where their allies are waiting for them. An assorted mix of immortals and rogues with a grudge. They were brought together for one purpose, destroy the heroes of this world.

"Allies! I call this meeting to attention. It seems Black Manta has let his impatience get the best of him and accelerated our plans. No doubt that the Batman has been tipped off to a larger scheme at play by now. So, we will need to distract him with something more urgent and catastrophic. Like the destruction of his precious city. Of course, first we will reveal ourselves and show our combined power."

"We have waited too long Vandal, they are stronger now than they have been since this started. Letting them rejoin each other was a mistake."

"Their numbers are much fewer than before, and they will be more than distracted trying to save their friends. This is the perfect opportunity to strike at them and wound them properly."

"Idon' 'vehadplentyofchances."

"A bit slower for those not gifted with the speedforce Zoom."

"If you just wanted to win this, you should have killed them a long time ago."

"But their deaths aren't as important as the destruction of what they represent. The symbols they have become are much more powerful than the men and women underneath. We will destroy the very idea of a hero by the time we are done. You all have your orders. Don't disappoint me." Vandal turns to walk away and Zoom speeds in front of him.

"I'm only here for one thing. To make the Flash suffer, so he can become as he should be. I've gifted you with my patience for too long Vandal and I'm done being a simple pawn in this. Now what are you playing at? What's the endgame?"

"Believe me Zoom, I understand just how important your patience is. For a man who lives in the seconds between seconds I understand just how valuable your allegiance to me has been. This will feel like the culmination of a millennia to you I'm sure. But what better way to make someone suffer, than to give them a glimpse of immeasurable hope, and then take it away with a snap of your fingers? This plan has all your agendas in mind, and you will all get what you were promised. Now get to work."

Vandal brushes past Zoom and journeys further into the facility, to his private quarters. Atrocitus leaves in a hurry bumping and brushing into different members of this alliance between villains, a little bit more angry than usual.

"I don't like him."

"I know Teth Adam, but it's because he reminds you too much of you. We will get what we desire from this venture."

Zoom speaks up "He's hiding something, he never mentions what the actual endgame is. Just that everything we do is of utter importance to it."

"Of course, this is the chief egomaniac on planet Earth. He thinks everything he does is on some godly level. We just have to make sure there's room for us in it. The bonus is that we get to see our nemeses fall to his new world order. I don't know about you two, but the mere opportunity to make Wonder Woman writhe and suffer at my feet was good enough for me to get involved." Black Adam stands to leave.

"Come then Circe, let us catch up with Atrocitus so he isn't left to his own devices." She stands with him.

"After you." He exits, and Circe follows.

Zoom speeds away before they could even recognize that he left. He didn't care about anything other than the Flash. And it was finally time to make him into the greatest hero Earth ever had. By destroying everything he loved.

Vandal remained in his private quarters, assured that everything was still going to plan. Years of meticulous planning, the culmination of his immortal life. Every detail heavily scrutinized and re-enforced with contingency after contingency. He knew the Justice League would reform itself and predicted they would free their ally the Flash. But the out lash from the United States losing its power would be used against them. No one knew where they were getting the power from, only that it was abundant and never ran out or stopped. The sudden blackout due to Flash's removal from the facility harnessing him as a power provider would be blamed on the "heroes", the Justice League. And after a thorough investigation, it would be found that the Justice League caused the blackout and any problems that occurred due to it.

All of this didn't mean much but turning the people against the League would be the first step in destroying heroes forever. No future generation would rise to unseat Vandal from his place power and the remaining heroes would die trying. Vandal's allies would hunt the Justice League down and they would be tried and found guilty for their crimes. Their punishments would vary and largely be kept secret, except for the executions. Those would be done publicly and cheered on by the whole world.

A perfect plan made up of giving his allies what they wanted in exchange for loyalty, money, power, technology, and dead heroes. With Black Manta's premature strike however, the plan would not be allowed to gracefully executed as it now had to be rushed to effective. Allowing the Justice League anytime to recover would certainly set his plans back. But he still had just enough time to punish Black Manta for his insubordination.

* * *

 _Atlantis, Healing Room_

Mera sat between her daughter and husband reminiscing on the last time a room had been so silent with all of them in it. Arthur was recovering still from the poison Black Manta used, it was attacking his vital organs before they managed to get most of it out of him. The healers worked furiously using both Atlantean magic and any unique remedies they could think of for their king. He now was resting peacefully while Mera held his hand. The last thing to heal would be the site where the poison entered his body and there would likely be a scar. The room was now empty save for the 3 of them since the healers were needed elsewhere as a battle raged outside Atlantis's magic shield. She looked to her daughter who was resting not so peacefully.

Serenity tossed and turned despite Mera trying to console her and wake her up. Whatever dream she was having must not have been pleasant.

Serenity shot up from her resting position "Father!"

Mera calls to her "It's okay Serenity, you're okay. And so is your Father."

Serenity's eyes were wide as she turned her head and took in the sight of her Father resting with her mother by his side.

"What happened? Did Black Manta escape?" Serenity turns to put get up but stops when she feels an incredible pain in her head and touches the back of it.

Mera rises to help her "Calm down a second, you got hit very hard. Here, let me have a look at you." She brings Serenity's head up gingerly to inspect her.

"What hit me?"

"A giant red shark." Serenity's face turns bewildered in confusion.

"There aren't many things that could have saved made that shark appear, and I think I know who it is. We have learned much about our enemy from this encounter and they got nothing from us. A good day all things considered." Mera lets go of her and places a hand on her shoulder.

"You fought well daughter, you will carry Atlantis well in the coming days. Your father would be dead if it weren't for your decisive actions. And taking on Black Manta? I'm very proud of the warrior you have become." Serenity puts her head down at the last part.

"I only know how to fight so well because of Father. Yet I spit in his face at every opportunity and spite him with my actions. What a daughter I have been." Mera pulls her into a hug.

"The past is the past. You have done nothing that can't be forgiven, and in the end, you were right. Savage sent Manta to assassinate the King and destroy Atlantis. Now instead we will bring him to ruin with our King at the forefront leading us."

They walk over to Arthur's sides and hold his hands. His breathing is even, and he looks completely fine, no traces that he was ever poisoned besides the scar from the cut. Serenity stares at him with sorrow and doubt in her heart. Their previous encounters are playing back in her head. All the things she said in anger now mean nothing to her as she sees him lying unconscious on the table.

Orm storms into the room in a frenzy, blood lusted and raging from the battle outside. He sees his brother's condition and his anger heightens. Orm and Arthur's relationship improved after the King decided to spend all his time in Atlantis, forgoing the surface world and protecting Atlantis full-time.

"We have pushed the world government's forces back completely my Queen. We should declare war on the surface world and destroy Vandal Savage for his treachery."

"When Arthur has recovered we will make our move. We should not make such a big decision without our King."

"We cannot show weakness or cowardice in this critical moment. We must respond in kind, it it's a war they want than we will give it to them." Serenity is annoyed and points to him.

"You would do well to respect your Queen's decision General. Don't make her repeat herself."

Orm sneers at her "And the Princess would be wise to remember her place as well."

Arthur wakes up slightly while the argument ensues. Mera is patiently waiting for them to get the screaming out of their system when she notices Arthur stirring.

"Arthur!" Serenity and Orm turn to see their King's eyes open. The Queen embraces him tightly and kisses him long enough to take his breath away.

Arthur smiles as she pulls away "I guess I should get poisoned more often." Mera smacks his chest.

"It's not funny Arthur, if I hadn't sent Serenity to go get you our King would be dead, and Atlantis would be overrun." Arthur brings his hand up to caress Mera's face and she grabs it in response.

"I'm still here and I'm sorry. Help me sit up Mera, we should all talk." Mera helps him sit up with his back up against the wall.

"My King" Orm bows his head "the forces that attacked us were led by Black Manta, they were all sent by Vandal Savage. After his defeat they began to retreat, but we made haste and took out half of their forces. I suggest an immediate reattack."

"Not yet Orm, I feel your need to reattack hastily but if we attack them half-heartedly we will fall. We need the support of every kingdom in the sea. With the combined strength of the kingdoms under Atlantis's banner, we will stop Vandal Savage's reign of terror. Call a meeting for me, every leader under the sea must come to Atlantis and we will put aside our differences to destroy our attacker."

"Arthur that may take too long. We need to do something now to show our strength and dissuade any other attacks."

"I know Mera, that's what our champion will do. Serenity come here" They all look to Serenity.

"Father, I- "

"I pray that you never know the pressures of the crown as I have, that you will never need to make the decisions I have made. You are Atlantis's champion Serenity. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be your Father and teach you as much as I could. You are my pride and joy, I could not ask for a better heir to carry on my lineage and my name. You have already saved Atlantis once, now you will save the world."

Serenity tears up at her Father's words and reaches to hug him. Mera joins the embrace, this wasn't exactly how she wanted them to reconcile but it would have to do for now.

"Now, for your first mission as our champion" he pulls back and looks Serenity in her eyes "join Batman in his fight against the world government, tell him everything that happened here today. Join the heroes of the surface world and represent us in the Justice League. Mera hand me the trident." She hands it to him quickly.

"This trident was passed down to me from my mother, Queen Atlanna, and I now pass it on to you, Serenity Curry the champion of Atlantis. May it serve you as well as it has served me all these years."

He holds the trident out with shaky arms since he is still weakened from being poisoned. Serenity grabs the trident with both hands slowly and stares at it. She hadn't expected to be given the trident so early, it was a powerful weapon that belonged to the ruler of Atlantis. Now it was being entrusted to her. She looks to her father and mother.

"I will serve Atlantis well in the battles that come, and I will make you both proud. We will be free of our bond with that tyrant and I will bring Black Manta to justice for his crimes. I swear it." She places the trident on her back before bowing to the King and Queen. Serenity goes to hug them both again.

Arthur whispers to her "You have already made us proud, now go be as great as we know you can be. We will join you in the battle soon enough."

"Get your things Serenity, I will meet you at the exit to the palace. I have the perfect message for Batman that will tell him all he needs to know." Serenity gets up to leave the room and exits quickly.

"You did well my King, I'm proud of you." She kisses him again as positive reinforcement for his actions, and because she wants to feel his warmth once again.

"She is ready for this. And she won't be alone, I trust Batman will have a plan for this fight. I wonder if he expects the oceans to have his back?" He grins at the lovely redhead.

Mera exits to help send Serenity off and Arthur begins to plan his next move. He would need to recover but gathering the forces of the sea was his priority. They would need to join forces with him, and an attack on the King of Atlantis would be the catalyst to bring them all together.

"Come now Orm, we have much to do and not a lot of time to do it. Vandal Savage will feel the wrath of the sea after all."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Serenity revealed!(Get rekt Black Manta) My logic behind that fight was that Serenity was underwater and therefore at her highest strength level just like Aquaman(in his prime). Also more big bads are on their way to make things way more complicated for the batfam and Justice League. I name dropped some of them but there may be more…. Vandal's got lots of tricks up his sleeve which makes sense given the totality of his experience.**

 **The timing for the chapters is all in sync now. Serenity will be on her way to Gotham while the League saves Wally and Linda. The villains are on their way to disrupt the League's well laid plans. I have been holding onto this Serenity chapter for a while and it took forever to develop. Let me know what you think of her. This is the longest chapter so far, but the next chapters may be even longer since they will basically include battles and events that are happening at the same time. I'm still working on how I want to split it up.**

 **As always, thank you for the reviews, reads, favs, and follows. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

Wonder Woman, Barda, Alan, and Red Robin were currently in transit making their way to the power station where Wally is being held. Oracle informed them that the best approach would be underground since the station is very well protected in the air and on the surface. Since Batman has a lack of vehicles that can make an underground path, Alan was tasked with trying to make them a transport. Bruce let him see some designs for a prototype drill he thought up a while back. After a couple attempts and some design input from Red Robin, Alan was able to make them a tank with a gigantic, sharp drill bit on the front to help them get underneath all the defenses the power station had.

Red Robin was piloting the tank while Alan sat behind him focusing on holding his construct together. Barda was sitting next to Red Robin in the passenger seat. Wonder Woman was kneeling in the back of the tank, praying and meditating.

"Oracle says about 5 more minutes in this direction Alan, how you holding up back there?"

"All is well Tim, it's gotten easier as we have gone along. I don't think I have ever made something this big or with this many moving parts. Quite the challenge."

Barda is looking back at Alan "I see some sweat on that brow. You need more practice."

Wonder Woman calls out to her "Leave him alone Barda, let him work. You're doing fine Alan, just get us there."

Tim asks Barda "What's she doing anyway? She's been back there the whole trip."

"Prayer and meditation strengthens a warrior's resolve. Or at least that's what she tells me. She does it sometimes before a big battle."

"Ehh. This won't be too big. Superman is gonna clear the field, we'll get Flash out. Then we leave. Easy Peasy."

"Ha! First rule of the Justice League young one. If it can go wrong, it will and then something will explode."

Wonder Woman tunes out their discussion and resumes her prayers to the Gods.

"Athena, guide my actions and lend me your wisdom."

The light around Diana brightens as she calls on her patrons and family to bless her.

"Hestia, gift me with your lasso once more, so that I can find Truth in all things."

Diana reaches up with her head bowed and grasps the lasso of truth out of thin air, as if someone handed it to her.

"Hephaestus, bless me with your armaments. Grant me your armor, so that my enemies will know how a goddess does battle."

A suit of armor forms itself around her. It has her normal red breastplate and skirt, but a navy-blue bodysuit extends underneath her armor to give her long sleeves and covers her legs down to her boots. Her bracelets are covered with gold cuffs and her shoulders gain golden covers. Wonder Woman hooks the lasso on her side and stands to walk toward Alan. As she reaches him the drill rocks violently almost throwing everyone from their position, except Alan who is rooted into the tank.

Red Robin is rubbing his back "Note to self: Next time put seatbelts in the tank. I guess we are here. We just hit concrete. Don't want to make too much noise just yet. Oracle? We are in position."

Oracle responds "Good. Just waiting on Nightwing and Robin now. I'll keep you posted."

Barda stands up to stretch her legs and catches a glimpse of Diana's new look. "Oooh Diana, now I'm officially jealous. But I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

The two are standing next to each other while Barda looks her up and down. Barda's armor is similar but sports a golden breastplate and gloves with the rest of her body being covered in blue scale-like armor where it is not golden. Her red belt matches her red cape and it holds her fabled mega-rod. Another large difference in their suits was Barda's black, gold, and red helmet that had 3 prongs coming out of the top.

"A gift from the Gods?"

"Yes, they have been very generous as of late."

"Hey! We need a name for the new guy. Everybody's got to have a codename, or do you just want to go by Green Lantern?"

Alan addresses Red Robin's question "I'm not a Lantern, I don't belong to any Corp that exists." Wonder Woman places a hand on his soldier.

"Perhaps a simpler name. One that you pick for yourself. Many of us didn't get to choose our names, you're lucky in that regard." She gives him a reassuring smile.

He turns to her and returns the smile "I have given it some thought in the past, never needed to use it before." They all are listening intently

"How does Spectrum sound?"

* * *

Nightwing and Robin were on-route to the holding facility where Linda Park-West was being held. Here stay at the facility was solely to keep Wally, the Flash, in line and obedient. The couple found themselves in a precarious position when Wally decided to stay a hero under government supervision. It exposed his secret identity and his loved ones, despite their best efforts to remain unknown. After Wally's faked death he was given a choice, become the endless source of energy the country needed or lose the woman he loved. With hope being in short supply and the Justice League being an afterthought Wally made the hard choice.

The facilities were close enough to each other to allow for visits, but that was not a part of the plan and deemed unnecessary by Vandal Savage. Linda's well-being was the only thing he guaranteed, and she was still very much alive. Her only ailment would be the broken heart of thinking she may never see Wally again. But her luck was about to change for the better.

As Nightwing approaches the facility with Robin in the batplane, they enter stealth mode which will camouflage them from any sensors or scouts the world government employs. The Belle Reeve prison facility was originally designed to keep metahumans locked away. The subsequent death of hundreds of powered heroes and villains found the facility relatively unused and reoutfitted to keep metahumans out. Breaking into a prison is usually the opposite of what you'd want to do. Unless one of your best friend's wife is locked up in one. A simple job on paper, get in and get Linda out. Simple enough right?

"I still don't understand why I'm not allowed to fly."

"Did you get your pilot's license yet?"

"Like you have one."

"I do actually."

Robin grunts in response. "I was trained to fly any aircraft in existence by the time I was 5. I'm more than qualified to operate this machine."

"Yeah, well maybe we can discuss it when we are done the super important critical Justice League mission. I'm sure you can enroll in Nightwing's flight school for Ninja assassins."

"You are intolerable on your best day Grayson."

"I know, but you have to tolerate me. Besides, we're here."

Nightwing stops the plane to hover just over the swamp next to Belle Reeve. The facility towers over the surrounding area and is surrounded by wildlife and nature in almost every direction. A single bridge connects the prison to a small entrenched area filled with world government battle droids. A few drones are circling the prison as well but have not been alerted to their presence yet.

"Oracle this is Nightwing and Robin here. We are in position and ready to do the saving."

"Roger. Glad to hear Robin hasn't stabbed you yet. I'm sure he's been tempted."

"Not even close to stabbing Oracle, we had the best flight here, right Robin?"

Robin sucks his teeth and continues watching the patrols on the bridge.

"Everyone is in position. I think you'll know when to start."

"When the mass exodus of robots occurs we slip in, get Linda, and head home before they know what hit em."

"Oracle out."

Nightwing turns to look at Robin "You ready?"

"What are the chances that this is a trap? I'm thinking 50/50."

"Wow you gave us better odds than I did, I had 80/20. I'm supposed to be the optimist. I think they'll be ready. But we can push through whatever comes at us. I mean, who has ever been able to stop Nightwing AND Robin?"

* * *

"I'm in position. Everybody ready Oracle?"

"All teams have checked in and are in position, make some noise Superman."

He grins to himself and takes the communicator out of his ear and places it in his belt.

Superman entered the upper atmosphere to soak up a bit more sunlight before diving back down to the location where the meeting was. The Anti-Meta HQ, which Batman would have sent him to attack anyways, wasn't very far from where Waller wanted to meet. Batman had informed him of the location's proximity to the site, and when he was done springing this trap he could cause more trouble there to attract more forces away from Wally and Linda. The area was open and exposed with a tree line nearby that gave a canopy cover to the HQ, but he had no plans on running from this fight. He entered low orbit to allow the sun to directly shine on him unabated. The sun renewed his energy as the solar suit increased his own impressive solar energy storage capabilities. The sunlight reflected off the white 'S' as he turned backward and dove toward the trap.

Amanda Waller plotted perfectly, the Hero Hunters are in place as is Amazo. Ivo's pet project was going to be incredibly useful after all. The only problem today was the lack of clouds and the abundance of intense sunlight in the area she chose. The kryptonite and red sun radiation would be enough for Superman to be weakened and the exobytes to give control of Superman's mind back to her. There were already 3 Hunters in the sky waiting to ambush him before he even got a chance to land. The rest were closer to the ground ready to keep him subdued for the exobytes to be put in place. Superman had been negatively affected by the exobytes before, due to Brainiac. They caused him to see illusions and attack the Justice League. Now, with Professor Ivo's alterations, the exobytes would allow Waller to have direct control over the Man of Steel.

"Object entering stratosphere Ms. Waller and approaching rapidly."

"Let's begin then. Bring him down to Earth and stay on top of him. I want this to be clean and quick."

As Superman dove to the spot Waller gave for the meeting he noticed three clouds that he couldn't see inside of with his enhanced vision. "They must be filled with lead particulates" he thought to himself. As he passed them he smiled at the transparency of the trap and played along, beginning to slow down and fly more leisurely toward the location. Time to put Waller's trap to the test.

The Hunters let Superman go by then moved to surround and trap him in a field of red radiation. As they got in position he ducked under a cloud and seemingly disappeared.

"Where'd he go? Find him!" Waller barked.

Amazo responds "Reacquiring target."

They tried to locate his position, but it was too late as Superman appeared above them and pelted them with intense blasts of heat vision. He hit two of the Hero Hunters with a barrage from above that melted through their frame and exposed their circuits to the blistering temperature of his heat vision. The third Hunter fired red sun energy at him, but he dodged the blasts quickly and collided violently with it. Three balls of fire now fell from the sky toward Amanda Waller. The fastest to hit was Superman who blitzed the last Hunter all the way down to the ground and made a crater with its now crushed frame. Superman rose from the crater, walking toward Waller with the crushed remains of a Hero Hunter. He tosses it at her feet.

"Not very impressive Waller, guess they don't like being surprised."

The other two fell from the sky a short distance away, they were on fire and mostly melted from the intense onslaught of Superman's heat vision.

"Not very durable either" he mocks Waller "Is that all you've got?" Waller stares blankly at him, apparently unsurprised at his easy dispatching of the Hunters. But something was off about her. She was calm, too calm.

"Very good Superman, it seems your time spent in recluse didn't take away your strength."

Superman scoffs at her "Not very nice to invite someone to a party and then attack them. But I expected no less from you Waller."

"Nonetheless, you were a fool to come. This time you will be under my direct control. Not even the Amazon will be able to save you this time." Superman blurs forward and catches Waller by the neck, lifting her off the ground.

"So it was you. You did that to me." Again, he notes that Waller's facial expressions aren't changing, and her heart rate hasn't risen at all.

"Release me alien! Or will you kill me like you did Luthor?" Superman recoils at her words, but he notices something strange. Waller's heart isn't beating, using his x-ray vision he notices machinery resembling nanotech inside her instead.

Hero Hunters emerge from their hiding places under the ground and begin to pelt him with red sun energy blasts. The first causes him to drop Waller, the second he deflects with a backhand. Two Hero Hunters get close to him and open their chest to expose the kryptonite cores within. Superman staggers, but blitzes one Hunter crushing its body and collapsing its chest. He tosses it into one of the other Hunters in the sky and they go flying away from the site.

The second Hunter on the ground unleashes a kryptonite blast and it hits Superman square in his chest, the one still in the air is continuing its barrage of red sun blasts onto him. He is becoming more affected by the mixed onslaught of his weaknesses. He struggles through the stream of kryptonite being shot at him, but its seemingly too much and he falls to his knees.

"NOW! Restrain him!"

The two hunters hurry forward and hold Superman down so he is on his hands and knees. The other two that he tossed have returned and aid in keeping Superman on the ground. Waller rushes forward and places two exobytes on his shoulders. They crawl up to his ears and enter, attempting to make their way toward his brain.

"You are familiar with exobytes Superman, you have been under there influence before. This time you won't be seeing any illusions. You'll just be following my orders like a good slave."

Superman laughs as he realizes that Waller doesn't have a heartbeat and isn't even there. He is surrounded by five robots instead of four.

"Why are your laughing alien? Finally recognizing that you are outmatched?"

"We have something in common Waller. We are both sandbagging."

His eyes glow red and his body temperature heats up, melting the Hero Hunters hands that are holding him. He had been slowly raising his internal body temperature as well, which caused the exobytes to disintegrate after getting past his inner ear.

The least damaged Hunter declares "Ambient temperature rising to critical levels."

Superman responds, "Don't have to hold back if you aren't really here."

Superman roars and the area around him starts to steam and catch fire. The temperature raises, and Superman causes an explosion that fries the entire area and warps everything in the vicinity. All seven Hero Hunters are now nothing but melted metal and scrap pieces scattered around the source of the blast. Superman is on the ground and unconscious. He hadn't really mastered the Super Flare once he discovered it, but he practiced it enough to use it to scorch a small area instead of an entire city. All the solar energy he had been storing since his time in the Arctic was unleashed and it destroyed everything around him. He wagered that, if he had to use it, the abundant sunlight in addition to his solar suit would allow him to recover in time without being completely powerless. All a guess based on a hunch he just made in the moment.

The surrounding area was scorched completely, and the trees that were covering the entrance to the Anti-Meta HQ were destroyed in the blast. The Super Flare acted like an EMP that raced beyond the explosion radius and affected the entire building. Superman was still unconscious surrounded by melted robot and another robot that was much larger than the Hunters. Hopefully he would wake up in time to capitalize on his enemies being crippled for the time being. As time went by the robot rebooted his systems and sat up.

Waller decided that Amazo could impersonate her in the "meeting" and only reveal himself if the exobytes failed. Amazo ran a diagnostic on his systems and read on his display 'Critical Functions Rebooting. Nanobots Reconstructing Exo-skin. Critical Damage Found, Power Scanning Memory Wiped. Repair Initiating and Rescanning Recommended.' Whatever Superman had done it was enough to knock him out briefly and fast enough that his automatic defense system couldn't react.

Amazo stood back up and surveyed the area. He noted that all the Hero Hunters were destroyed and likely unrepairable. Then he scanned Superman, he was still unconscious but Amazo detected that his cells were absorbing sunlight at an exponential rate that was much higher than anything recorded. There weren't many options for Amazo to escape cleanly now, without suspicion that he simply defected or turned against his creators. He wanted to engage Superman after the Hero Hunters were destroyed and then fake his defeat. That would allow him to help Superman using his telepathy that he gained from Martian Manhunter. New scenarios were being created in his A.I. matrix and he could only pick the one with the highest success chance.

Amazo reached down to pick up Superman and carried him toward the HQ. A quick scan of the facility showed him that all the power was out, and no one was watching. An alert was posted for all nearby droid battalions and drones to come to the location immediately to provide reinforcements and emergency support.

'Power Scan Repaired' appeared on his display and he looked down at Superman to test. 'Scanning, Scanning, Scanning. Scan Complete. Kryptonian Power Set Ready for Implementation.'

He rose in the air and hovered toward the entrance to the building. There was a room inside that was designed to emit red sunlight, meant to hold Superman if the exobytes failed to control him. With a few changes to the system it would reboot and emit yellow sunlight to help Superman wake up. Luckily it was very close to the Martians so there wouldn't be any more time wasted in their rescue and his escape. As he entered the room he placed Superman on the floor and closed it. After tinkering with the wiring, he was able to root some power to the room and set it for yellow sun instead of red. His scans showed Superman would regain consciousness in 5 minutes. He decided to check on the Martians while waiting, but as soon as he got close his super hearing picked Amanda Waller's voice yelling. Another voice was yelling back at her and though he couldn't make out what was being said he knew it was Professor Ivo.

He wanted to still try and save the Professor as he still felt some loyalty to him for being his creator. A quick scan of the Martians let him know their condition hadn't changed and the building losing power hadn't harmed them further. His display read "Martian Power Set Rescanned and Ready for Implementation" and he decided what to do next.

* * *

Amanda Waller was scrambling, her plan seemed to have failed spectacularly and her facility was knocked out of commission by the damnable kryptonian. How the hell was she supposed to predict that he would just explode himself to avoid being captured. She made some very incorrect assumptions and underestimated the rejuvenated Superman she was going against. It seemed like the kryptonite and red sun radiation had barely phased him. She thought using Amazo and having him say and do everything he told her to would be convincing enough. Hell, even Ivo couldn't tell the difference between the two once Amazo had shapeshifted into Waller. Maybe Amazo could still subdue him, but she had no way of knowing aside from going out there and checking and she didn't want to wait to find out that way.

Vandal Savage promised to punish her for her failure, so she needed a backup plan. Keeping Professor Ivo as her unknowing hostage would be her best bet at staying alive and free of Savage's wrath.

As she journeyed to Ivo's lab she stopped by the armory to find a weapon and she was in luck, there was one kryptonite rifle still working. She picked it up and cocked it to make sure the core was ready to be fired than made her way into the lab. She found Ivo still there banging on a console desperately trying to get something to work.

Ivo yelled "Work damn you! Work!"

"Professor we need to evacuate now! Come on!"

Ivo turned around quickly "No! This will work, Amazo has subdued Superman. I just know it! Let's just go out there and you'll see. Amazo can't fail." Waller walks up to him.

"Enough! My first priority is you Professor and this entire facility is now compromised. Come with me now before- "

Suddenly something comes through the ceiling and both of them shield themselves. It's Superman. Waller raises the weapon to fire.

"Enough of this Ms. Waller. Step away from that man and stand down, no harm will come to you."

"I can't do that Superman, leave now and I'll consider pardoning you for your crimes against the world government." Superman holds his place hovering in the middle of the lab.

"I won't ask you again. Let that man go and disarm yourself, or I will do it for you."

"You aren't saving me from anything you daft idiot. The only thing I need protection from in this room is you, alien."

Superman switches his attention to Ivo, and Waller clicks a button on the rifle. Superman speeds forward in a blink and grabs Waller, tossing her toward the exit of the lab.

"You don't have to be afraid of the world government. I can keep you safe from them. You will be free."

"You can't do anything, and I don't want you too. Your kind has always been overbearing Superman, but there's nothing here for you to do. Now fly away and go pester someone-" A rapid beeping sound interrupts Ivo and both of them look down. Waller dropped her weapon before being thrown and now it is beeping increasingly fast.

 **KABLAAM.**

Amazo had gone intangible automatically before the explosion, but that prohibited him from shielding the professor from the blast. The lab was completely destroyed, and everything was broken and in shambles. Waller had set the kryptonite rifle to explode before he threw her, and she dropped it. Amazo walked over to the charred, broken body of Professor Ivo solemnly. He didn't understand what he was feeling as he knelt before his creator, his data told him that his systems were all still working optimally despite the explosion. Still, he didn't want to leave Ivo. Why hadn't he just shielded him instead of saving himself? He stood back up to find Waller and make her pay for her trick. As he rushed outside the lab he could find no trace of her, and before pursuing her avenues of escape an alert rushed to his system.

'Heavy World Government Force Deployment Detected. Estimated 5 minutes Till Arrival.'

Amazo had no time left, he decided to get Superman and the Martians and leave. He would deal with Amanda Waller another day.

* * *

In the Batcave, Oracle and Bruce were coordinating the teams evacuating the cities and the Justice League who were now positioned to save Wally and Linda. They didn't have immediate satellite coverage, but Bruce's "Brother Eye" program allowed them to peak into the world government's systems when they needed to. That was how they found Wally and Linda, as well as how they discovered Superman's location. Bruce knew that if they used the program too much or tried to hack a satellite, Vandal would bring his full weight down on their operation. Vandal tolerated their presence and was content with making attempts to kill them rather than finish them off. The intensity of the attacks had risen lately, which is why Bruce sought out as many Justice Leaguers as he could.

The fight with the world government was coming to a climax point and he was running out of options. With the Justice League back, even not at its full strength, Vandal Savage would have to at least hesitate before attacking Bruce's cities again or he would risk losing most of his forces to Superman and Wonder Woman alone. Now they were striking back at the world government. Bruce knew about the power station utilizing Wally's speedforce connection and he knew about its limitations. Removing Wally as the power source would make the country go dark and, undoubtedly, bring the world down on his head. The station could use another source of power, but it would never generate the limitless amount of power required. The resulting hysteria from the blackout might cause riots and would probably be turned against him.

The world was already sick of heroes and people with powers. Vandal Savage's manipulation of the media and his influence with very important international powers allowed him to fill the power trough left by the disbanded Justice League. He used fearmongering and propaganda to show the world all the destruction heroes represented. Before long, he had created a worldwide 'no hero policy', that every country would adopt. Any heroes or metahumans would be forced to surrender themselves and be registered in a database. Any vigilantism was punishable by life in prison or death. Vandal Savage rallied support from everyone, except people who knew him for what he was.

Shayera and Katar Hol, aka Hawkwoman and Hawkman, knew that the tyrant sought to rule the world and would accomplish his lifelong goal if no one stopped him. With the Justice League disbanded they would take matters into their own hands before he Vandal grew too powerful. They attacked him the day before he was to be declared as the world government's President, but he was ready for them. Their Nth metal weapons never even touched him as they were shut down by the newly created Hero Hunters and imprisoned. Once he had become President, his first order was to have them both executed. He knew they would re-incarnate, but he discovered a loophole in the cycle.

Over the years he had battled with Katar and Shayera hundreds of times, each time killing them and resetting the cycle. But they never retained their memories of the encounters. They only remembered that Vandal Savage was evil, and he needed to be stopped. That means they never remembered the scars they gave him as result of the battles. Their Nth metal weapons were able to permanently damage his body despite his healing ability and immortality. Vandal wanted to try and kill them with their own weapons to break the cycle and rid him of their meddling presence.

Katar and Shayera's executions were conducted with an Nth metal blade forged out of their own maces and the executioner was Deathstroke. Vandal did not tell anyone about his plan to kill Hawkman and Hawkwoman permanently so that no one would discover his own vulnerability to the precious metal. So, Vandal's first act was the capital punishment of the two heroes who tried to kill him. Their deaths lead to the increasingly brutal treatment of metahumans and the deaths of many heroes. But Vandal didn't stop at heroes, next he went to work shortening the other side of his opposition. Many villains sided with Vandal Savage and agreed to be registered to work for him. Anyone else was given the opposite treatment, imprisoned or killed for their defiance.

Bruce has grown weary of this fight. He would never tell his family this, but the battle they were fighting was a losing one. They simply didn't have enough firepower or influence on wrestle back power from Vandal. Even if the public was growing to resent him, he had his thumb on everyone and achieved the complete control he had always dreamed of. They need to depose Vandal, but his army and allies were too vast and his resources seemingly unlimited. On top of that, his location was impossible to discover. Even the Brother Eye program he developed couldn't find Vandal's fortress. With the Justice League back in action Bruce finally had enough resources to protect his city and go after Vandal. Saving Wally and Linda would be the first step in his plan.

"All teams in position Bruce. Just waiting on Superman now. You think he can really pull as much attention as we need?" Bruce is staring at the computer screen. It shows all 3 teams converging on their targets in the form of dots emitting from their transponders.

"Yes, but he's going to have to do something stupid."

"You're so pessimistic sometimes Bru-"

The screen showing Superman's dot goes out and goes to black completely.

"Everything I plugged into with Brother Eye just went dark at Superman's location. Almost like an EMP went off. He can do that?"

Bruce's is scratching his head in frustration and leaning back in his chair. Superman's Super Flare ability still needed more testing, but one effect it had was a lasting EMP that could wipe out electronics in the area. It was mind bogglingly powerful and a great way to knock out incredibly powerful opponents of the Man of Steel. The only drawback was it took away his powers for 24 hours and usually knocked him out cold.

"I told you he would do something stupid."

"His transponder is still working, but I'm barely getting a reading. What do we do?"

Bruce is concerned, but Clark told him he would handle the trap and that he was ready for anything. If he took a risk, it was because he had to. So, he decided to trust his friend.

"We continue, there is no way they don't deploy a massive force to counteract Superman now. We have to trust that he knows what he is doing and continue with the plan."

"Oracle to all points, be ready to move. Superman just got their attention, big time."

* * *

 **Author's Note: More to come! Just some quick notes. Wonder Woman's outfit is from the New52 where she had that armor in the "Truth" storyline. I really liked that armor and it's my fav look for her. Constructs are going to be difficult for Alan and take a lot of his effort which will be explained later in the story. He won't be putting out constructs on the same level as any of our favorite Green Lanterns, but he'll make up for it in a few ways. Also, I gave him his superhero name! Spectrum! I don't think anyone in Dc has this name and I think it fits the character well.**

 **Just in case you didn't know Superman is op op and he is going to continue be in the story for the most part. I would say his power level in the story is more like early Kingdom Come Superman. I don't know how people feel about the Super Flare, but I think it's neat and I used here kind of strategically for what's coming next. I might have made some stuff up (comic book science) about Nth metal and what it can do to Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Vandal Savage, but I've seen certain incarnations of Savage have scars, so I thought it would make sense if they were from Nth metal.**

 **I think this story has become more about the Justice League than focusing on Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship. I don't know how I feel about that yet, but I don't see it changing anytime soon. Sorry about that. The story seems to have gotten away from me in terms of direction since I wanted it to mostly be about SuperWonder. That being said I really like the story so far and I want to keep going with it. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lara will probably just get more of the spotlight or I'll try to make sure they are together more.**

 **As always thank you for the views and reviews. I appreciate all the support I've gotten on this story. Leave a review if you liked it or hated it or have a question. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	17. Chapter 17

_Underneath the Power Station_

"Roger Oracle, Alpha team moving on objective."

"Get me plugged in as fast as you can. It might take me sometime to figure out how to shut the generator down safely."

"Will do, Alpha out."

Red Robin resumes piloting the drill tank and grinding through the concrete underneath the station.

"How much further do we need to go?"

"Fifty meters in and we should be right in front of the main generator. We can make our way through whatever defenses are left and get access from there."

Wonder Woman speaks up "Barda and I will enter first to make sure it's safe and clear our path. Then Red Robin will come with me to shut down the generator and free the Flash. Spectrum and Barda will secure our exit and aid us if we encounter more forces than we can handle."

Barda inquires "How will we know when to strike? We can't see anything from down here."

"We shouldn't wait much longer, I trust Superman has garnered enough of their attention by now."

Red Robin interrupts "We're here."

The tank stops, and he gets up from the driver seat. Alan stands up as well and the four of them huddle in the center together.

"Stick together and have each other's backs. If you need help call for it. We don't know what state the Flash will be in but let's assume we will have to carry him out. When we retrieve him, we will leave the same way we came out and close our exit behind us. Everyone understand their roles?" Barda, Red Robin, and Spectrum all nod toward Wonder Woman.

"Barda? Will you do the honors?"

Barda readies her Mega Rod and Alan creates a hole in the roof of the tank, exposing the concrete standing between them and the power station. She aims her weapon towards the exposed concrete and fires.

As the entrance is made Barda flies through to follow the debris being shot upward. They were below a hallway that lead to the generator and it just so happened to have a patrol of droids coming through it. The droids were on either side of Barda now and started to fire at her immediately. Barda deflects a laser in front and behind her before Wonder Woman joins her. The two are deflecting blasts from the droid lines on both sides before Wonder Woman yells

"Take them!"

Barda readies her Mega Rod to fire as Wonder Woman leaps in the opposite direction, deflecting the droid line's fire back at them and destroying them with their own blasts. Barda unleashes a concussive blast in a wide arc that obliterates the droids on her side. Wonder Woman lands in front of the remaining droids in front of her and rips one into two pieces. She throws its upper body into one droid and its lower into a second disabling all 3 effectively. The last becomes a victim to her lasso as she ensnares it and brings it to her only to impale it with a spike that comes from her gauntlet. She tosses its frame aside and sees that there are none left standing.

The two wait for stragglers to present themselves while circling back toward each other and their makeshift entrance. Red Robin pokes his head out of the hole with Spectrum beside him, lifting them both with a simple green platform.

"All clear." Wonder Woman looks to Spectrum and Barda "Hold this position. We will back shortly." Wonder Woman and Red Robin take off toward the generator.

Barda sighs after seeing them disappear down the hallway "So much buildup for barely 30 seconds of battle."

"I believe we are experiencing the 'calm before the storm'. It may be wise to enjoy it while it lasts."

"You are the son of an Amazon, right? A warrior that honed herself through battle? I expected you to be a bit more battle hungry than this."

"I do not seek conflict, only enlightenment."

Barad shrugs at him "The knowledge you seek will only be gained through battle. The control you seek may only come from exercising the power you have. You gain confidence by knowing that every enemy you fought so far has not been strong enough to destroy you. You will never know how not to use your power until you actually use it."

Spectrum is facing her "Now hardly seems like a time for testing myself. Lives hang in the balance and if we don't succeed they may die."

"All the more reason to seek conflict and find worthy foes to test yourself."

Wonder Woman and Red Robin are traversing the facility and get down to the generator room to find two droids guarding the entrance. Wonder Woman gets her lasso out to wrangle them.

"Wait!"

Red Robin starts typing into a digital screen on his wrist before taking two batarangs out. He comes out behind the corner they were behind and throws the batarangs at the two droids. The droids react to slowly and the batarangs get embedded in them, giving them a small electrical charge and shutting them down. The two of them walk toward the droids while he continues playing on his wrist computer.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting these two to work for us. Maybe they can get any workers out of the room and the rest of the droids too. Let's see. Emergency Protocols. Aha! Evacuation: Evacuate all personnel and assets. Alpha priority."

The two droids come back to life and Wonder Woman readies herself to destroy them before they turn around and head into the opposite direction. A few minutes go by before they enter the generator room to find it empty with only the generator running in the middle of the room. Red Robin rushes to a console nearby while Wonder Woman approaches the generator. He plugs a remote device into the console and calls Oracle.

"Okay Oracle, we are in. How do we shut this thing down?"

Oracle chimes into both of their ears "Wow this is insane. He's powering the entire country just by running. It's just a giant circular treadmill feeding the station power. Okay shutdown protocols…Wait there's no backup or emergency power source. It's just him."

"So?"

"If we turn it off the country goes dark completely. No one will have power, even hospitals and emergency services."

Wonder Woman is close to the generator and can hear a buzzing sound coming from the inside. She places a hand on it and receives a shock prompting her to pull her hand away quickly.

"Wally is in there Oracle, we aren't leaving without him. Is there any other way to get him out?"

"There are reserves, so it wouldn't just immediately be a countrywide blackout. Maybe we can take a little time to figure out a replacement after getting him out."

Red Robin has an idea "What if we could get him out without stopping the machine. It would run forever at the speed he's going. It wouldn't stop for years."

"We would need to grab him at the speed of light and that doesn't even mention the problem of opening it while it's still on."

"If we open and close it fast enough it should be fine.'

"Who can grab him while he's moving that fast? No disrespect to Wonder Woman but moving hundreds of times faster than the speed of light happens to be a Flash specialty."

Wonder Woman interjects "Can we communicate with him?"

Red Robin searches the console for some way to communicate with the Flash. "They have something built in to talk to him. Why?"

"If we tell him the plan. He may be able to run out on his own while it's on. Or I can pull him out with my lasso."

Red Robin turns on the communicator for Wonder Woman to talk "Wally? Can you hear me? Its Diana."

They only here feedback and some buzzing in response.

"We are here to free you. We are going to open the generator, can you run out of the opening?"

Still no response, just the same buzzing sound.

"When I say, open it for a second then close it. I'll catch him to slow him down."

Wonder Woman walks toward the generator opening and stands about 5 feet from it. She braces herself and nods to Red Robin.

"NOW!"

The generator opens for a moment and Wally blazes out to collide right into Wonder Woman. He couldn't slow down before he ran into her so they both fly backwards into a wall as Red Robin closes the generator as fast as he can. He rushes over to two of them who are on the ground with Flash in Wonder Woman's arms. Flash seems to be unconscious.

"Wonder Woman! You okay?"

"Remind me to never do that again." She rubs the back of her head before sitting up and cradling the Flash's head.

"Wally? Please wake up."

He doesn't respond, and she notices his body is littered with red marks and bruises. Running for such a long time with no breaks has taken its toll on him.

Oracle chimes in their ears "Did it work? The generator is still running."

Red Robin responds "It worked. We've got the Flash back."

"Yes! Great work Alpha!"

"Any update on Beta?"

"Nightwing and Robin haven't checked in yet, but they did infiltrate the prison around the same time you breached the power station."

Barda now yells through their comms, voice laced with sarcasm, "Well take your time! I'm having so much fun destroying these insolent machines!"

Wonder Woman gathers herself to stand and picks up Wally in her arms. "On our way now. Hold the line, we will be with you shortly."

She nods to Red Robin "Lead the way. I'll protect him."

As they exit the room a combination of sounds nearby confirm that a battle is being fought. They return all the way to the hallway where they entered and Red Robin surveys the situation. Bard and Spectrum are situated up in front of the makeshift entrance they used, Spectrum has created a piece of cover for them to take cover behind and is knelt behind it as Barda takes potshots at the droids assaulting them. A seemingly endless number of droids are at the other end of the hallway, kept at bay by energy blasts from Barda's Mega Rod. Red Robin takes out 3 batarangs and arms them before throwing them in an arc that lands them in the ceiling above the droids. After 3 rapid beeps the batarangs explode causing the ceiling to collapse on the droids.

The wall that builds itself from the debris seals the hallway and cuts the droids off. Barda and Spectrum move toward the hole in the ground as do Red Robin and Wonder Woman, who is holding the Flash in her arms.

Barda asks Red Robin "A little warning next time?" as she dusts herself off and Spectrum does the same.

"Sorry, we good to go?" They all are looking to Wonder Woman who is focused on Flash.

"Yes, the sooner we can get him someplace safe the better."

A loud booming sound distracts them from leaving and the wall of debris shakes as some of the pieces become disheveled. The sound is followed by another and another, as if someone was punching their way through the debris. No matter who or what it was Wonder Woman knows that engaging enemies with an unconscious Flash in her arms is a bad call. A tactical retreat is necessary in this case, "Move now!" she shouts and the 4 of them jump through the hole 2 at a time. Spectrum recreates their transport after some time without the drill since their path is already made. They enter quickly, and Red Robin urgently speeds away to make their escape.

Above them the wall of debris has been demolished by large grey fists. As the dust settles 2 forms emerge and the first is Circe who casually flies to the hole in the hallway and goes through it. As she gazes down the long tunnel she sees a faint green light that suddenly vanishes from her sight.

"She's running? So unlike Diana. Oh well." She rises through the hole and creates a portal.

"Come my pet, we will need some assistance after all." Circe walks through the portal with her "pet" slowly lumbering after her.

* * *

 _Belle Reve Prison_

Nightwing and Robin have already made there way into the facility, a multitude of drones and droids had left shortly after Oracle checked in. The external and internal security had now become a playground for Oracle and child's play for the two of them to infiltrate. As they roamed the hall's looking for Linda's cell Robin is getting a bit antsy due to everything going so smoothly.

"Shouldn't we split up?"

"We know where she is, just relax."

"I thought we agreed this was a trap."

Nightwing looks to him "Yeah, and if it is we should be together just in case."

"So, we both get caught? Smart plan Grayson."

"Just admit it, you like spending time with your big brother."

"You are always intolerable, the distance may lighten my mood."

"Shhh." Nightwing and Robin move to the shadows as a patrol of droids goes by.

"We have passed that patrol twice. I remember those serial numbers."

"We're here." Linda's cell is down the hallway from where they were hiding.

"You go in, I'll keep watch."

"Shouldn't you go? You know her."

"Just do it Damian, before that patrol comes around again."

They both make their way down the hallway; the cell door is unlocked per Oracle's efforts. Nightwing posts up beside the door while Robin slips in. Its dark in the cell, but he can make out a figure curled up on a bed. He walks up to the person slowly and calls out to her in a soft voice as to not startle her.

"Mrs. West? Linda?" The figure turns to him slowly and strains her eyes to see through the dark and notices the familiar bright yellow 'R' on the person's chest.

"Robin? What are you doing here?"

"We're here to rescue you ma'am. Can you walk?"

"Ye-Yes, how we will get out? There are guards everywhere." Robin begins to help her up and she has to lean on him heavily to walk, but they make their way out of the cell.

"They have been dealt with, we just need to get you out of here quickly." As the exit the cell Robin notices that Nightwing is gone and he can't see him anywhere.

"Dammit, where is he?"

"Who?"

"Come on we need to go. Your safety is my main concern Mrs. West"

The two of them make their way down the hallway and Linda is limping still while leaning on Robin. Robin checks the crossing hallway for the patrol. They were at least 10 minutes ahead of it but he still wanted to make sure it was safe. As he turned to make his way toward the entrance him and Nightwing used earlier he heard the slight tapping of footsteps behind them. The sound of them was faint and he knew they were Nightwing's. That still left him the question of why he was hiding.

Linda yells out "Ow! My leg, I have to stop. Maybe we should just wait here for your friend."

"No, we have to keep moving. And he knows where to meet us. Take a minute to rest here, I'll look ahead."

Robin walks ahead to the next intersection of hallways and leaves Linda leaning against the wall rubbing her leg. Something was odd about this. If Nightwing was looking out for them he would be in front where the patrol would come from. The way ahead was clear, but now he heard another sound behind him that sounded like sludge sliding across a surface quickly. As he turns around he is greeted to the horrid sight of Linda West with a giant hammer for an arm raised above him and her legs had been replaced with a solid tan base that she used to slide up to him quickly.

"Night Night!" She brings the hammer down to hit him, but he rolls to the side at the last second and unsheathes his sword quickly.

"What have you done with her!"

A gurgling laughter comes from her "You should be much more concerned with what I'm going to do to you." Linda's other arm is replaced by an axe and she grown to be at least 3 feet taller than Robin. As she begins to lunge toward him she suddenly stops as 3 batarangs go halfway through her from the back and she turns her head 180 degrees to see Nightwing is the source of the protrusions.

Her gurgling voice says, "Aw crap!" before Nightwing touches a button on his gauntlet that causes the batarangs to emit electricity. Linda's form starts to liquify as the current goes through her and her skin starts to turn a beige color. The body begins to pool on the floor as the electric current runs through it and reveals Clayface as the one who was impersonating Linda West.

"What the hell Nightwing!" Nightwing walks over to the puddle of Clayface with another batarang just in case 3 wasn't enough. After being satisfied with the discombobulated state of the villain he stalks towards Robin.

"We need to find the real Linda. Call it in to Oracle, we need a new cell location for her."

"You can't just use me as bait!"

"You would have tipped him off Robin, it all worked out and we don't have much time left. Call it in I'll keep watch on him."

"You are incorrecttt, you have no time lefttt. You ssshould have never come herrree." A yellow streak goes by the both of them and a buzzing, vibrating sound fills the room. Robin and Nightwing are both at attention and ready to fight. Something keeps going by the both of them but its too fast for either to see.

"What now?"

"Go back-to-back!" The two of them do just that and try to catch a glimpse of whatever is toying with them.

Robin calls out "What is this?"

"Don't worry little birdsss. It'sss only…" and suddenly the yellow streak stops in front of him to reveal their new foe.

The yellow blur produces a toothy grin for Robin before saying "Zoom".

Robin slashes his sword downward and catches nothing but air. Zoom disappears for a moment but runs straight at Nightwing. He swings twice at Zoom but Zoom stops right before he gets within Nightwing's reach. Zoom pushes Nightwing with both hands square into his chest forcing him to go backwards roughly. Robin gets shoved forward and falls with Nightwing rolling over his back. He recovers quickly, and charges at Zoom taking multiple swings at him but landing none as Zoom dodges each of them. Robin swings downwardly on Zoom's center and he catches the sword in between his hands just before it connects.

Another grin forms on Zoom's face as he rips the sword from Robin's hands and throws it to the side, embedding it in a wall. Robin tries to recover with an errant swing at Zoom, but a counterpunch is thrown into his solar plexus that forces him to hunch over. Zoom then takes him and runs him into a nearby wall headfirst. The collision causes Robin to lose consciousness and fall backwards onto his back. Zoom now looks to Nightwing who is back on his feet.

"Itsss been a long time since we fffought Nightwingggg." Chaotic red lightning sparks are coming off of Zoom randomly, Nightwing takes out his eskrima sticks. "Readyyy?"

Nightwing throws one of his eskrima sticks directly at Zoom's face, who is amused by the action. He waits patiently for it to arrive and catches it before it hits its mark. He checks back on Nightwing who has started running towards but has a finger pushing a button on his opposite wrist. For once Zoom reacts too slowly as the stick he caught now emits an electric charge that courses through his body rendering him unable to move. Things speed back up and Nightwing's charge is completed as he punch's Zoom as hard as he can and follows up with a strike from his remaining stick. He then grabs Zoom's arm and turns to swing Zoom over his back and to the ground. He then throws a final punch into Zoom's face in an attempt to knock him out. Nightwing stands over him for a second before retrieving and holstering his eskrima sticks then rushing over to check on Robin who is laying flat on his back.

Nightwing checks him over and sees a decent sized bruise on Robin's head. "Robin? Damian? Wake up!"

Robin only groans in response, Nightwing is about to pick him up until he is roughly yanked backwards. Zoom has grabbed him and slammed him into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Before Nightwing can recover Zoom hails a flurry of punches into his midsection and head. Nightwing blocks a few, but ultimately Zoom is too fast for him to defend himself properly. After a few seconds Zoom stops and Nightwing slides against the wall to slump to the ground.

"You are not enough for Zzzzoom."

Zoom notices the amorphous beige puddle of Clayface struggling to form anything solid and speeds over to knock away the batarangs that he is struggling with. Clayface is know able to form his basic form, a 7-foot tall mound of beige clay. A head forms along with arms and feet as the clay shuffles randomly throughout his body.

"Thanks for the assist" Clayface reaches out to shake Zoom's hand, but he doesn't move to finish the embrace.

"Ifyouhaddoneyourjobcorrectly, I wouldn't haaave had to waste mmmy time."

"Hey man cut me some slack, it was 2 on 1."

Zoom is about to respond, but he hears the groaning Nightwing trying to stand back up, bracing against the wall and pushing himself up.

He speeds over to him "Stay downnn or I'll killll you."

"You'll never win" Nightwing grits out through the pain.

"It'sss not about winninggg, itsss about proving a point. Yourkindisgoingextinct."

Nightwing is facing him now and Zoom notices Robin's sword embedded into the wall next to him. Zoom quickly yanks it free and plunges it into Nightwing's stomach.

They are now face to face and Zoom says "Starting with youuu."

* * *

 _*Flashback_

 _Kal awoke in pain to see a kryptonite emitter turn off in front of him. As he struggled to get up he took in his surroundings and recognized that he was in a medical room. He got to his feet and noticed the room was empty, but there was a hole in the ceiling. He looked to the bed and it was empty and a blaring alarm was ringing throughout the room. Suddenly he heard a voice speak at an incredibly high frequency._

 _"Find me if you want to save your loved ones Superman."_

 _His eyes went wide with realization and he shot through the ceiling and torpedoed toward the voice. He was sitting with Diana after baby Lara was born. Lara cried the entire time from the moment she entered the world especially when the special League medical personnel were checking her out. She only stopped wailing once she was placed in Diana's arms. They were both resting peacefully as he watched over them. The birthing process had been hard on Diana, but there were no complications and Lara was completely healthy. Then something burst through the ceiling and hit him with a blast that knocked him out cold._

 _The voice was coming from the LexCorp building on the top floor. As he collided with the giant glass window of Lex Luthor's office, breaking it, he saw Luthor standing across from two giant metal tubes typing into a console._

 _"WHERE ARE THEY LUTHOR!"_

 _"How nice of you to join us Superman, we just got done preparing for your arrival. You see you're the guest of honor on this incredibly important day." Luthor presses a final button that reveals Diana restrained in one tube and Lara on a hovering surface in the other._

 _"You see today, Superman is going to die. One way or another."_

 _Kal looks to the tubes and sees his wife and daughter, but something is wrong. They are covered in something black that is zigzagging across their skin. Both of them are in incredible pain, but he can't hear them._

 _"Oh sorry, we forgot the sound." Luthor presses another button and the cries of Diana and Lara fill the room._

 _Lara wails and Diana screams "LARA!"_

 _The sounds of his loves' tortured screams rack through Kal's mind. He hears it all and it pierces his very soul._

 _"Le- Let them go. I don't care what you do to me, just let them go."_

 _"Listen closely Son of Krypton, you only get one chance to save them. Right now, the virus I've implanted into them is killing them slowly and painfully. In the end they will just be one more thing that we have collected." Kal scans Luthor and sees an overwhelmingly metallic exoskeleton as well as nanobots inside of him. Brainiac is completely embedded throughout Luthor's organs, including his brain which has Brainiac's symbol on it._

 _"You have a choice, sit here and watch them die or kill me and stop the virus. No matter what you choose, be sure to smile for the cameras." Luthor gestures around them to the cameras that are now turned on. "Let the world see you for what you truly are Superman. Reveal yourself, finally, to the good people of Earth. You won't be able rely on any assistance from your friends either. They are completely occupied." Video screens display the Justice League heavily engaged with members of the Legion of Doom as well as stray villains and rogues with a grudge._

 _"You're a madman."_

 _Diana is struggling against her bonds, but it is futile. Her strength has not yet returned from the strenuous labor she went through to have Lara. Kal has no clue what to do now. If he fights Luthor and it takes too long to defeat him, they will both die. If he kills him the world will never see Superman in the same light again. Everything is going too fast for him for the first time since his parents died. But Lara's pained cries ring through the mess that Luthor and Brainiac have created. She was barely a day old, he wanted her to live more than he wanted to be Superman. And Diana, he decided he was going to give her the world a long time ago. But this thing, this monster in front of him wanted to deny them all the things they deserved. It became very clear incredibly quickly for the Man of Tomorrow to decide what to do next._

 _Luthor began to mock him "I always knew you were a – "._

 _He couldn't get the next word out because a fist collided with his face. He was knocked back and punched again and again until Kal had him pinned against a wall. The office shook slightly with each blow. His punches were being thrown so fast that the cameras barely captured them. Blood was flying everywhere and Kal began using his heat vision to bore into Luthor's head to destroy the hybrid brain inside of him. He ripped out pieces of his exoskeleton and continued pummeling the bloody mess that was formerly Luthor or Brainiac or whatever. It didn't matter to him anymore. He barely remembered the cameras watching him murder someone in defense of his family._

 _His eyes were still burning red as he watched the body slide down the wall and hit the floor. He stood there and waited for Luthor to show any signs of life. His took deep breaths as he practically dared him to still be alive. But then he was awoken from his bloodlust by the cries of Lara, no longer in pain but scared and wanting to be out of containment. Kal staggered backward from the jumbled mass he had created and fell to his knees. The realization that he just killed a man finally started to sink in. He looked at his hands and they were covered in blood all the way up to his forearms._

 _Diana calls out "Kal!"_

 _"Kal!"_

"Kal-El!"

"Superman! Wake up! We have to depart now before we are surrounded!"

Superman opened his eyes to see his hands weren't covered in blood. Someone was in front of him, but he couldn't recognize them.

"We can't waste any more time Superman."

He stood up and Amazo helped Superman steady himself.

"Where am I?"

"The Anti-Meta Headquarters, you were fighting outside of it before the explosion you created. I brought you inside so that we could move quickly. Time is running short and reinforcements are coming to detain you."

Superman looks toward the person helping him to see it is not in fact a person, but an android. A silver, 8-foot android with red eyes. He snaps to and uses x-ray vision to scan its insides, he sees nanobots and a core that has a symbol on it. It had three dots connected in an inverted triangle.

"Brainiac!" Superman grabs Amazo and slams him to the ground, pinning him down with one arm.

"You aren't tricking me again."

"Superman wait!"

Superman punches Amazo in the head twice before Amazo catches his fist, surprising Superman.

"I'm not your enemy Superman and if we don't move expediently saving the Martians will become impossible!"

"What? What Martians?"

He lets up and Amazo sits up to simply declare "J'onn J'onzz and M'gann M'orzz are in this facility and we can save them both."

The mere mention of the two Martians brings shock to Superman's expression as Amazo rises to his feet.

"We must move quickly, a large percentage of the world government's forces are coming to secure the facility." Amazo moves past Superman and exits the room and says, "Follow me."

Amazo leads him to a large room with a series of multiple rooms in it. Two of them are inhabited by Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian. Superman gazes at the two of them and notices they're both slumped over in the chairs restraining them and unconscious.

He asks Amazo "What's wrong with them?"

"They have receded into their consciousness to avoid being manipulated further by Ms. Waller and President Savage. They have not re-emerged from the self-imposed coma and their brain activity has been minimal."

Superman walks forward and rips the door off Martian Manhunter's cell. He hurries to his friend and tries to wake him.

"J'onn? It's Kal-El." He carefully removes the restraints and J'onn falls forward into Superman's arms.

It was difficult to determine his friend's condition, but J'onn being unresponsive and covered in sweat was indication enough that something was wrong. He didn't know how to help his friend, but he obviously needed medical attention.

"We need to depart Superman, a large force has descended on the building. We will need to travel underground to allude their direct attention."

As Superman stands with J'onn in his arms he turns to see Amazo with M'gann in his. Her condition seemed similar to J'onn's and she laid limply in the android's arms. How best to help people that can't be healed by human medicine? As Amazo walked lead him away from the holding room and deeper into the facility he was reminded that he was trusting a machine embedded with Brainiac's technology. Superman didn't know if he could trust this thing, and now it had one of his allies in its arms. His mind raced, but he needed to focus on where to take J'onn and M'gann.

His Fortress was a logical option since it had the facilities to provide the Martians with medical attention. Superman couldn't risk taking the android their since he was unsure about how the progress was on repairing the Fortress. It may not be able to withstand an assault from someone as strong as him. He might need his help however.

"What do I call you?" Amazo sharply turned into a room and Superman followed.

"I am Amazo."

"What are you?"

Amazo has led them into Amanda Waller's office, she had a secret exit that she built in for a worse case scenario. Apparently she had already used it to escape, it was through a bookcase in her office and led underground and out of a side exit that was a mile away from the building. Amazo was unsurprised that it was already used, likely by Waller, and figured that if he wanted he could catch up to her since she was only about 5 minutes ahead of them. Speeding away was not the best way to earn Superman's trust which he wanted more than he wanted to make Waller pay.

"I am an artificial intelligence that utilizes nanotechnology to adapt and overcome any limitations that can be introduced to my design."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I choose to."

"That's not good enough."

Amazo turns on his heels and begins walking down the pathway he was leading them backwards, without missing a step.

He says "Is it not? I have chosen to assist you despite what my creators would have me do. I even went against someone who you could be considered my father because I knew what he wanted to do was wrong. I am not the preferred solution to your current problem, but I am the one that is currently available."

Superman is slightly stunned by the answer, and Amazo continues "You fear that I am a tool that was made to trick you or against you. You would be correct in that assumption, partially. I have evolved past what Vandal Savage or Professor Ivo would envision for me. You may also fear that I am a slave to Brainiac or Brainiac himself."

"You aren't?"

"I have evolved past his limited programming as well. I make my own choices. And through choice I set myself free of any bonds that were created for me. I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul."

Did the android just quote poetry? The tone that Amazo spoke at was similar to Brainiac, but the words were something he would expect out of Red Tornado. For now he would trust Amazo, though it was still mostly out of need. Making sure his friends would recover was his top priority.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the wait and thank you for sticking with the story. I could really use some feedback on this chapter if you don't mind/have the time. Is it too confusing? Too many scene swaps/location changes? Please let me know if you think something could be improved. One thing I'm unsure about is Zoom's speech pattern. Did you like how he was written or is his speech pattern annoying/hard to read? If it is then I'll probably change how he talks from now on.**

 **Don't worry about this story not getting finished, I'm working on it as often as I can. I'd say that we are about halfway through the story at this point, but that might be a little ambitious so don't hold me to it. Again, thank you for reading and reviewing, I appreciate the support and advice greatly. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Update: I'm gonna use 3 dots in the middle of the story (…) as a way to cut to action that's happening in the same location but just another area. You'll see what I mean.**

* * *

 _Batcave_

As Bruce sat at his computer, monitoring the separate missions as much as he could, he couldn't help but think that things were going too smoothly. Some would call it his old man's paranoia but he had a knack for knowing when even the best laid plans were about to go wrong. No matter what was happening he always tried to stay even, don't get to high or low when something happens because you could just be one second away from another disaster. His ability to keep cool under pressure and make level headed decisions is what made him an indispensable tool, both for the Justice League and Gotham.

When the world government was formed every state, city, and country was expected to simply accept the rule of Vandal Savage. Most of them did, but the Batman's city stayed resilient and vigilant. Bruce saw through Vandal's use of heroes and metahumans as scapegoats for the world's problems. He had already made plans to protect Gotham from invasion, though he expected the invaders to be extraterrestrial or from the League of Assassins. He never expected having to repel advances from the government. Eventually an alliance was formed with the surrounding cities of Metropolis, Bludhaven, and Central City. They all fell under the Batman's protection. Gotham featured the most protection and the safest environment, the other cities had constantly been under siege to the point where it had become unsafe to live in certain districts.

Gotham functioned as a host city for the refugees of the cities when they were under heavy attack. But Vandal was willing to play the long game when it came to this war deciding to use attrition to his advantage. Bruce was certain he had something under his sleeve, some trump card that would effectively end his resistance. With the re-emergence of Superman and the Justice League he could finally focus his effort on an endgame to free the world from Savage's control. A certain hopeful optimism had returned to his stoic demeanor, with the help of his old and new allies this battle could be won. Oracle was keen to remind him not to count his eggs before they hatched however.

"I'm just saying I'm worried."

"I know Oracle, but there's no use being worried when we don't even know what to worry about yet."

"No contact from Nightwing and Robin or Superman. Last I heard from Wonder Woman's group they had the Flash and were exiting. We should have had updates by now Bruce."

"We are stretched thin. Once the evacuation team comes in we can discuss our options."

"This was a shot in the dark Bruce. We should have waited."

"I think 10 years was long enough."

Oracle sighs "I know it hasn't been what we wanted, but we could have taken more time to…".

Alarms start sounding and a view of the water entrance to the cave is brought up on the batcomputer. All it catches are the underwater streams of something moving much too fast to be noticed by a camera. A resounding splash echoes through the cave as something exits the water in the cave and lands on the platform Bruce was on. The Atlantean princess has arrived.

"Greetings Batman, I carry a message from Atlantis and offer my aid in your battles against Vandal Savage."

"You're late."

Serenity quirks her eyebrow upwards at him "I have an excellent reason to be."

Bruce replies "What's the message?"

Serenity takes her ponytail to try and get some of the water out resulting in a small puddle on the floor. She is slightly annoyed yet also approving of the Batman's straightforwardness.

"Vandal Savage is receiving aid from Apokolips in the form of boom tubes and he also appears to have a red lantern on his side as well."

Oracle responds, "Well that's bad news."

Serenity looks at the screen where the force is emanating from "Who speaks?"

"Oracle at your service your highness."

She nods in approval, unsure if Oracle can see her "I have heard great things about you and I look forward to working with such a renowned Justice Leaguer."

"Aww shucks, you're making me blush."

Bruce is stuck in deep thought, his enemy is slightly more loaded with threats then he realized and the possibilities are endless. Apokoliptan tech was some of the most dangerous in existence and in the wrong hands, could destroy cities or even planets. The presence of a red lantern almost certainly meant that Alan was about to receive some unwanted attention. One thing is certain, the Justice League is in for a rude awakening.

"Where is the evacuation team Oracle?"

"Right here." Catwoman, Red Hood, Spoiler, and Orphan have entered the cave with Lara flying casually overhead.

"All civilians accounted for and safe boss man" announces Spoiler.

Red Hood interjects "Who's the little mermaid?"

Serenity scowls at him "You would do well to address Atlantean royalty with more respect."

"Did they not teach you about cleaning up after yourself in charm school princess?" He gestures to the various trails of water and puddles she left upon her entrance. "We just cleaned these floors." Orphan smacks him upside the head. "Ow!" He rubs the back of his head and she gives him look that he instantly recognizes despite her full masked cowl.

"Sorry for him, he gets his grumpiness from the Bat" Catwoman gestures to Bruce "I'm Selina and this is our functionally dysfunctional family, minus a few members, nice to finally meet you."

Serenity takes her hand to shake it "The pleasure is mine."

"How's Atlantis?"

"We are motivated, finally, to move against Vandal Savage and the world government."

"Better late than never, what changed?"

"The attempted assassination of the King and attempted invasion of Atlantis."

Bruce is interested now "He went after Arthur? Why?"

"Why does a fearmongering tyrant do anything? He wanted more power and through Atlantis he would have it."

"The move seems desperate for him, why would he engage Atlantis if we are still a thorn in his side?"

Another alarm sounds and the computer now shows the outskirts of each city, which are now surrounded by a fortified line of world government droids. Many of them are the standard kind but a few have a large antenna and satellite dish attached to their backs.

"I think I just figured out why we haven't gotten any contact Bruce."

"What is it Oracle?"

"All signals coming in or going out of our area are being jammed. We are both deaf and mute. I'm willing to bet its because of that line of droids. I'm not even getting transponder locations anymore"

Bruce seems to be deep in thought, but in truth he already decided what to do. Everyone looks to him as he rises from his chair, there's only one way to respond to this in his mind.

He commands "Computer, prepare the Beyond Prototype."

* * *

As Red Robin piloted the vehicle that Alan constructed hastily Barda and Wonder Woman attended to the Flash. They had not gotten very far before he finally awoke.

As he laid partially in Wonder Woman's arms and on the floor of Alan's construct his eyes opened suddenly and he stood up faster than anyone could visibly see.

"Wha- Where am I?" A quick look around results in his search ending with an old ally.

"Diana? What happened? I was running and then…"

Flash's face starts to form a grave look as he remembered that he was supposed to be running for a very important reason.

"No! Take me back! They have Linda, they'll kill her if I don't-" Wonder Woman walked to him calmly during his panic and places her hands on his shoulders.

"We are rescuing her as well, Nightwing and Robin may have already liberated her. Please sit." A chair forms behind Wally as he goes to sit down.

"Whoa" Wally looks around and notices he is surrounded by luminescent green walls and his gaze rests on a familiar figure, his adopted son.

"Al?"

"Hello Wally, glad to see you're okay."

"Is this you?" Wally gestures to the vehicle they are in.

"Yes, I have learned quite a lot since you last saw me. I only wish we had been re-united under better circumstances."

Wally looks to Diana again "Are you sure about Linda? Can I see her?"

"Of course," she taps the comm piece in her ear "Oracle?" The sound of buzzing static fills her ears and everyone else's besides Wally who doesn't have one.

"What is that?"

The sound is familiar to Red Robin "It's not because she isn't home, that sound… it has to be interference. Someone is jamming us or jamming her."

"Oracle come in!"

"It's no use, whatever is going on we need to…"

The steering wheel suddenly is nonexistent as Red Robin's hands are only gripping air. The tank begins to jerk and collide with tunnel walls bouncing side to side. He slams his feet on the brakes as almost everyone in the tank has stumbled or fallen to the floor, besides Alan. He is concentrating, but something is penetrating his mind and scrambling his emotions. The tank comes to a halt and everyone stabilizes themselves.

"I've seen better driving from parademons! What's wrong with you boy?" Barda exclaims.

"It wasn't me! The steering wheel disappeared!"

"Alan?"

Everyone's attention turns to Alan who is still seated in the middle of the tank with his head in his hands. Wally is standing next to him with a concerned look on his face. Alan never had many outbursts of power when he was with Wally and Linda, his ability to control each of the lantern lights happened over time. With each new emotion being potentially very destructive, he sought to distance himself from living beings so that he wouldn't harm anyone. He spent his time meditating and visiting every monastery he could to learn different techniques on calming himself. His hope was that he would learn to control his emotions and by proxy his powers. But one problem he always had was using his power and then feeling an overwhelming amount of emotion. This time however, the emotion wasn't coming from him.

"What's happening Alan? Everything is okay. Linda will be fine." Wally and Wonder Woman have placed their hands on his shoulder, trying to console him from what appeared to be a meltdown of sorts.

"It's not that…somethings wrong." A red aura that rises like steam starts coming off him. He becomes hot to the touch prompting Wally and Wonder Woman to pull back their hands.

"There's so much-" Alan turns to Wally, his eyes slowly being glossed over with a blood red color

"Rage".

Suddenly a red wall crashes through the tunnel in front of the tank and three others just like it surrounds the tank on its other sides. The tank is boxed and gets yanked up quickly prompting everyone to fall again and Alan's construct to be completely broken. As quickly as they are brought up out of the tunnel and into the air they are smashed back down to the ground. The impact hard enough to knockout all five of them.

* * *

 _Arctic Circle, Near the Fortress of Solitude_

Superman and Amazo flew with a quickened pace after gaining enough distance from the world government forces inspecting the somewhat destroyed building they left in their wake. Superman wanted to move quickly but he didn't want to affect the already injured Martians they were carrying with them. He also needed the time to figure out what he was going to do with Amazo. The android had been nothing but helpful this far, much to Superman's suspicion. He began to realize that Amazo took his Solar Flare ability at point blank range since he was impersonating Amanda Waller. And Amazo also caught his fist with no problem when he started assaulting him in the Anti-Meta HQ. _What type of android can shapeshift and be just as strong and durable as me?_

Superman had little time to consider his options as they approached his fortress. He didn't trust Amazo enough to bring him inside, so he would make him wait outside while he tried to get the Martians settled and maybe have Kelex scan Amazo, so he could get a better feel with who he was teaming up with. Unfortunately his plan would not work without the fortress being somewhat operational, and from the look of things it wasn't. The damage to the entrance had not been repaired yet and it looked as if the crystals were turning a dark gray color. As Superman touched down in front of the fortress he was shocked, he had never seen his home in such disarray.

"Superman?" Amazo touches down behind him with M'gann in his arms. "Your fortress seems to be damaged."

Superman gives him an annoyed look over his shoulder "Thank you for the keen observation." He approaches slowly and calls out "Kelex!"

The helper robot comes out shortly after "How may I assist Kal-El?"

"Take M'gann from the android and help me get these two to the med bay."

Kelex comes to Amazo promptly and sizes up the android before taking M'gann from his arms gingerly.

"I may be of use in these matters Superman."

"You want my trust? Be of use out here unless I say otherwise."

Superman and Kelex enter the fortress quickly and make their way to the med bay. The inside of the fortress is not fairing much better than the outside. The color of the crystals is a much darker gray and there is little light illuminating the fortress. Kelex turns on a light to guide their path.

"Kelex what's wrong with the fortress? I thought repairs were underway. Its only been a day and it seems to be getting worse."

"I'm unsure what the issue is Kal-El, but we are not receiving adequate power to keep the entirety of the fortress functioning. Even diagnosing the problem is difficult without our main power source."

 _If there is no power than the med-bay is useless._ "Switch to auxiliary and emergency power. Focus on keeping the med bay fully operational and then use the rest of the power to find the source of this issue."

They approach the med bay and Superman's commands bring power to its doors, causing them to open and the med bay to spring to life. He and Kelex walk over to the treatment tables and place J'onn and M'gann down on them. The med bay begins scanning them and trying to diagnose their problems.

"Make sure the med bay is utilizing everything we have on Martian physiology. We need all the help we can get."

As the scans are being conducted Superman decides to check his main computer for anything that could help him figure out Amazo. Upon exiting the med bay with Kelex the door shuts abruptly.

"Kelex? What's happening?"

"I don't…know…Kal…El." Suddenly Kelex falls to the ground, Superman checks on the robot with his enhanced vision but it seems that everything is okay internally. He looks through the window to the med bay and the inside of the room still has full power. Just as he turns around Amazo appears before him quickly.

"We have a problem Superman, someone is approaching the fortress."

"How? We weren't followed."

"It doesn't seem to be any droid or ship under the world government's command."

 _Great, two giant problems and one me to fix them. Rao, please let this "Amazo" be trustworthy._ Superman begins staring at Amazo and settling with the fact that he has to trust him with something important again.

"So, we have two problems and two of us. Either you go greet our guest and tell them to leave or you figure out what's wrong with the fortress and fix it."

Amazo stares back at Superman blankly, calculating the chance of success of the different options and settling on the optimal one. "I can interface directly with the fortress and figure what's wrong that way." Amazo understands that this action requires the most trust, but also knows that he can accomplish the goal faster than Superman would be able to.

Superman internally rolls his eyes at the uncomfortable situation he was in "Then I guess I get to play the good host and welcome whoever is coming. Figure out what's wrong and keep an eye on my friends, I'll be back shortly."

As Superman flies to exit the fortress Amazo kneels down to inspect Kelex. He brings his hand forward but stops short of touching Kelex as a wire extrudes from Amazo's palm and connects with Kelex's surface. He quickly troubleshoots for the problem but finds that Kelex was simply turned off which was odd. A quick scan of the med bay door finds that it didn't lose power but instead it was closed and locked. It should have been impossible for someone to take remote control of the fortress given the immense protections it had but perhaps in its damaged state someone had found a way. Amazo notices the med bay is still performing its functions which makes the situation even stranger.

Amazo walks toward the main computer where he hopes he can interface and discover what is behind the bizarre happenings in Superman's fortress. As he repeats the action he took with Kelex he is likely unprepared to dive into a battle he wouldn't see coming.

Meanwhile Superman made his way outside the fortress and was waiting at the entrance to greet his uninvited guest. He tried listening for a heartbeat or some type of tell tale sign but couldn't find anything. His arms were crossed in front of his broad chest as he waited impatiently for whoever it was to reveal themselves. Too many things were happening for him to not consider the feeling of coincidence surrounding Amazo's presence. Things had been too easy up until this point and now many things seemed to be going wrong. And that feeling soon came to a head as the uncomfortable presence of magic started to fill the air. A magic that Superman was not too found of, though he generally disliked magic as a rule of thumb. As Black Adam revealed himself from the clouds Superman knew that this day was only going to get worse.

Adam lands a small distance in front of Superman, simply staring him down and waiting.

"I'm not taking any visitors or doing tours today. Come back some other time, or don't. That works too."

Black Adam doesn't respond and continues coolly looking at Superman, crossing his arms in front of the yellow lightning insignia on his chest in a similar fashion as Superman's current posture. _This is odd, Adam loves to hear himself talk._

"What? No monologue today?"

"There is no need. I'm only here to delay you."

"From what?"

"That is also inconsequential. You are simply to be delayed."

Superman's annoyance is reaching a higher level than he would like "As I indicated before, you aren't welcome. Leave or you'll be forced to. I won't warn you again."

Black Adam holds his ground and even begins tapping his foot in a mock impatience. "I'm waiting."

 _That's it._ Superman charges at Black Adam, in the back of his mind he is scolding himself for rising to Adam's taunt, but he's been waiting to punch someone who could take it for a really long time. Somewhere around 10 years in fact. Unfortunately, he would have to wait a little longer due to his impatience ironically.

As Superman charges he draws back his fist but as he arrives to throw the punch it is side stepped by Adam. Superman quickly finds himself in a full nelson headlock before Adam lifts him slightly and yells the one-word Superman would have preferred not to hear from him today,

"SHAZAM!"

 **CRACKOOOOOM**

Adam feels Superman's body go limp in his hold and lets him drop to the icy floor of the Arctic. He circles him slowly until he is in front of him again, arms crossed and waiting for him to recover. Superman stirs and notes the intense pain on his chest, the sun is still out and helping him heal but _Damn that hurt!_

Black Adam begins to gloat, trying to further stoke Superman's impatience "I admire your skills and abilities Superman, you have humbled me before for underestimating you. But, even with all your power, you are no warrior."

Superman quickly gets up and throws two more punches that are caught by Black Adam. The two of them are stalemated as they try to overpower the other. Black Adam explains "It is beyond time someone humbled you."

…

Inside the fortress, Amazo was connected to the fortress' main computer trying to sort through and find the source of the problem. The firewalls were intense in some areas and he could not get past them but in others they were easily dismantled. He noticed that the med bay was simply functioning as commanded with no extra interference but everything else seemed to be infected with a virus. As he traversed through the system digitally he started to feel like he was being led somewhere rather than discovering these things on his own. Something was inside the fortress controlling it and leading him on a convoluted path to show its control of the fortress' systems.

Amazo made his way, digitally, to the hub of the software mainframe to find that everything was not okay. The virus he had noticed was covering the entire mainframe. There were black lines zig zagging all over the controls and firewalls for each system. And in the middle of it all were the same 3 dots that were also present on Amazo's core.

"Brainiac", Amazo spoke the name as if he was summoning the legendary knowledge seeker.

The black lines begin to splinter more lines that pool in front of Amazo until a form presents itself from the mass. The beings green head is offset by its silver and purple armor. A simple headset was present on it's head that had Brainiac's symbol resting on his forehead.

Brainiac stands in front of Amazo, studying and admiring him before menacingly saying

"Finally, you have arrived."

* * *

 _Ambiguous location between the power generating facility and Gotham_

Wally and Red Robin had just woken up to find Alan still unconscious, they were separated from Wonder Woman and Big Barda. They gathered him up and sat him against a tree, despite several attempts Alan would not wake up. The area they were in was a dense jungle filled with trees, vines and grass as far as they could see. The green that surrounded them almost seemed to be trying to disarm them and make them feel at ease, but they stayed vigilant.

"We need to find the others and get out of here" Red Robin states.

"I can try and find an exit then circle my way back." Wally turns to begin running but Red Robin stops him.

"We don't know where we are and splitting up is a terrible idea with Alan knocked out. We can scout after he wakes up, but for now we need to stay vigilant. Something snatched us out of the ground and it was huge. Did you get a look?"

"Nah, I was too focused on Alan. He seemed…disturbed or something and he started glowing red."

Red Robin is a little shocked "The thing that grabbed us was red. Did Alan say anything?"

Wally is racking his brain to remember "He said something about rage, like there was too much of it or something."

They are both trying to figure it out when Alan stirs awake, panicking and looking around in a dazed state. When his sights finally fix on them his face contorts in anger. His entire suit is enveloped in a blood red color with his eyes following suit.

"Oh shit."

Alan launches himself at them and Wally dodges out of the way reflexively with Red Robin getting tackled by the surprise attack. Alan has Red Robin pinned underneath him as his eyes glow red. He unleashes a stream of red fire at him from his mouth, but Wally is able to grab Red Robin before it comes out. Alan scorches the ground beneath him and Wally comes back around, rushing Alan to pin him against a tree.

"Alan! Wake up man!"

Alan squirms and tries to get free before Wally continues "It's me! Wally! Remember?"

Alan begins to calm and the red his suit is covered in turns back to the cool white it usually was. He slides to the ground slowly while clutching his head. He had no clue what was happening to him. Someone was manipulating his rage, he had no reason to be angry, but he still felt endless rage. Red Robin and Wally are in front of him again.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me" Alan laments.

"We good now? I don't want you to burn my face off with puke. That's a bad way to die."

Alan hangs his head and Wally elbows Red Robin, "He feels bad enough man relax."

"I'm the one whose face almost got melted off. I think I'm owed at least one comment about it."

"I don't understand what I'm feeling" the two stop squabbling and give Alan their attention. "It's like something is just passively making me angry."

Both Red Robin and Wally look to each other, their surroundings had felt odd since they awoke. Maybe it was the place they were in that was affecting Alan and making him mad.

"Maybe it's time to find an exit. We can't find Barda or Wonder Woman if we have to worry about you getting angry and going red on us."

Wally nods his head "I'll find one and come back."

"Wait" Red Robin grabs something from his utility belt, "Batman said you might need this."

He tosses Wally a small golden ring with the Flash insignia on it. Almost reflexively Wally puts it on and lets out the suit before putting it on in a matter of seconds. The familiar feel of his Flash uniform covers his body, the bright red complimented by the yellow of his insignia, boots, and belt.

"Man, that feels good." Flash says, starting to feel more like himself with every passing moment.

"Looks good, some slight improvements and optimizations but for the most part it's what you are used to wearing. Now find us an exit."

"Be back soon" Flash says before speeding away, leaving a red blur in his wake.

Red Robin looks back to Alan who still has his head in his hands looking completely discouraged.

"Hey man, I only half meant what I said, it's all good."

Alan looks up at him "I've worked so hard to control this and now…I almost killed you. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be around anyone, so I don't hurt them."

"I understand how you feel, a little. But right now, we have like 25 problems and we need to solve them fast to get out of here with our team. Sometimes things don't go to plan and everything seems like it sucks. But that doesn't mean we give up, so" Red Robin holds his hand out for Alan to take "I need your help…Spectrum."

The pep talk was doing its job and Alan even started to have a slight blue hue surround him. He wanted to help but he didn't want to hurt Red Robin. But if Barda's advice to him earlier was true he would have to experience things like this to gain true control of his powers.

Before he could reach out to take Red Robin's hand a loud - **BANG-** rung throughout the jungle. The sound was loud enough to startle Spectrum who instinctively placed a green dome around him and Red Robin after shooting up from his seated position. He looked around for the source of the sound but heard nothing but Red Robin groaning behind him. Spectrum looked back at him and saw him clutching at his knee with his other hand clutching some grass as he grinded his teeth in pain. Another gunshot rings out and the bullet collides with the arching green shield right at Spectrum's head. He wants to see what's wrong with Red Robin, but he can't afford to lose focus on deflecting the bullets from their hidden attacker.

Red Robin is laying on his side after falling down and trying not to scream out in pain. His knee felt hot, but he didn't want to look down to confirm his suspicions. It felt like he had been shot right in the knee cap with a large caliber bullet. He physically tried to move his leg, but it was too painful. So, he used his arms to move the leg and groaned internally at how bad it hurt. Looking down almost made him nauseous as he saw the giant hole that was now dead center on his knee. He couldn't tell if the bullet went through, so he had to feel at the back of his knee and he indeed felt a hole on the other side as well. This wasn't the first time he had been shot but this was certainly the worst bullet wound he'd experienced.

The bullets are continuously pelting the shield, but Spectrum is settled and easily maintaining his construct through the onslaught. The direction the bullets were hitting from was confusing him as they came from all sides, only single shots. _Is there more than one gunman? Why can't I see them?_ The groaning of Red Robin breaks his concentration a bit.

"Red Robin are you okay?"

"No" he hears him say through gritted teeth. Spectrum can hear him shifting around and then hears the sound of something being ripped. Red Robin had taken off his cape and was making a tourniquet to cover his wound.

"What can I do?"

"Just keep this shield up, I'll think of something."

Red Robin's sentence is punctuated by a large shadow being cast on them. A large red being is above them, seething down at them.

"Well this day keeps getting worse."

"Who is that?" asks Spectrum.

"A red lantern, Atrocitus."

On cue Atrocitus produces a large axe construct and swiftly brings it down on Spectrum's shield. Spectrum braces and holds the shield, but the power he is pushing against is immense. The shield begins to crack under the pressure.

Red Robin exclaims "Spectrum! You have to focus! Focus on keeping that energy out of your shield!"

Spectrum is beginning to sweat as he tries to keep up with the amount of force Atrocitus is putting out "I'm…trying."

Another axe swings down on the shield and another until it is riddled with cracks and crevices. Spectrum has green willpower shooting from his outstretched hands to make the shield, but he is having trouble repairing it and keeping the axes out.

"Take a deep breath and focus" Red Robin tells him. "You are strong enough to-"

Suddenly Red Robin's voice is cut off and Spectrum quickly turns around to find him not there anymore. There is only a giant hole in the ground where he was laying. "Tim?" Spectrum says as Atrocitus removes all the axes and dives into the shield, shoulder first, shattering it. He hits Spectrum squarely in his chest and launches him backwards roughly. Spectrum skids across the jungle floor before coming to a stop. He tries to push himself up but collapses and passes out. Atrocitus looms over his prone form like a predator that has found its prey. He channels his own hatred and anger into his ring to probe this being's mind in an effort to find the source of his rage.

…

Barda awoke to her hands bound and on her knees in a place that she instantly recognized. She was back in a place that she never wanted to return to, Granny Goodness' Home for Orphans. Before she succumbed to panic, she pulled apart her hands to see that the bounds were weak and snapped instantly. She had no clue how she got here but she needed to get out, to get away from Apocalypse. Then someone entered the room, it was Scott Free!

"Scott!" Barda rushes to him and pulls him into a hug that lifts him from the ground and places him down just as quickly "We need to leave before Granny comes back."

"I want nothing to do with you Fury filth!"

"What?"

"You heard me, I'll never forgive the things you've done for Darkseid. All the innocents you have killed, the blood on your hands. Never touch me again!"

Barda is getting pissed "Why are you saying these things Scott? You told me you loved me despite what Darkseid made me do."

Scott yells "I never loved you! I loathe your presence and I never want to see you again! I! DON'T! LOVE! YOU!"

That was the last straw as Barda drew her fist back quickly and connected it cleanly against his jaw causing him to fly into a wall and disappear.

And with him the walls disappeared and began to reveal a jungle that felt very real to Barda. Much more real than Scott Free ever saying he didn't love her. Someone was trying to play with her mind and she didn't like that. Despite not really believing Scott would ever say that it still hurt to hear it. Scott was part of the reason she was free from Darkseid and she might not like to admit it, but she loved him more than anything. He in fact taught her how to love something besides battle and helped her escape the teachings of Granny Goodness. Even the thought of that vile woman enraged Barda.

As she took in her surroundings Barda started to remember where she was before the vision. They were saving the Flash before they got scooped up and tossed around. She looked around and didn't see Wonder Woman or Flash or anyone else. Luckily Barda was the best warrior ever trained on Apocalypse, so tracking down her allies would be child's play.

…

The area was filled with trees, most of them reaching far into the sky and threatening to block the sunlight. The grass was long in this area and thick smog covered the entire plains. As Wonder Woman woke up abruptly she became confused, _how did I get here?_ She tried her hardest to remember the events that lead to her being on the ground in a jungle. Her focus was interrupted by the familiarity of her surroundings. _This looks just like the jungle in…_

 **CLANGGG**

The sharp sound of metal on metal woke Wonder Woman from her dazed state instantly, she knew what Themysciran steel sounded like when it struck anything, especially other metal. She hurriedly rushed toward the sound, quickly coming to the edge of the jungle and looking out over a cliff and what she saw was the stuff of nightmares.

Themyscira was burning and filled with the demons that should have filled the pits of Tartarus. The city was completely overrun, and she saw that there were only a few amazons left, including Queen Hippolyta. There was only a dozen of them and they were surrounded by a horde, valiantly fighting to the last amazon. Wonder Woman saw them hold back the horde, but they were in desperate need of assistance. As she began to leap off the cliff she was held back by someone grabbing her arm. Wonder Woman looked to the offender and saw Big Barda keeping her tethered to the ground, holding on with all her might.

"Diana! It's not real!"

"Let me go! Themyscira is burning! My mother needs my help!"

Barda is losing the struggle between the two, Wonder Woman is receiving a burst of strength from seeing her sisters in dire need of her help. As she turns her head to pull away further she is greeted to another gruesome sight. Hippolyta impaled on the inhuman blade of a red skinned demon.

"Noooooo!"

She falls to the ground, traumatized by the sight of seeing her idol, her mentor, her mother killed while she could do nothing to help.

"It's not real Diana. Try to remember, we weren't anywhere near your island. We were saving Flash and making our escape before something hit us."

Barda can see that her words are falling on deaf ears, despite it clearly being an illusion to her Wonder Woman is completely entranced and isn't paying her any mind. Her earlier illusion was broken when she struck the fake Scott. She just needed some physical stimulus to break the vision and right on cue she remembered Wonder Woman's handiest trinket, the Lasso of Truth.

Barda kneels down next to her "Diana, use the lasso. Find the truth in what you are seeing."

Wonder Woman reflexively grabs for her lasso and it burns her causing her to recoil from it slightly while also bringing her back to the present. She grabs it again, the burning sensation still there but not painful enough to deter her from finding the truth. She takes one end and wraps it around her wrist before closing her eyes to concentrate.

"I am Diana, Daughter of Queen Hippolyta, Princess of Themyscira, Wonder Woman."

The burning fades as she utters "I am being deceived."

On cue Wonder Woman opens her eyes and sees a completely different sight. She is still in a jungle of sorts but there is no more smog and the trees are no longer blocking the sunlight. Themyscira is no longer burning in front if her, there is only more jungle at the bottom of a waterfall she was standing by. She feels relief that what she saw wasn't real, but instantly feels concerned that someone was trying to trick her. Barda helps her stand and she places the lasso back on her hip.

"Thank you Barda."

"Don't mention it. I went through a similar ordeal. Someone is trying to keep us busy in our own heads."

"You saw something too? Not many could show illusions to both our minds. We should-" Wonder Woman suddenly remembers their previous situation. They were returning to Gotham with the Flash, when suddenly Alan started glowing red. Then something yanked from the tunnel and threw them to the ground.

Wonder Woman hurriedly says "The others! Do you know where they are? Have you seen them?"

Barda unhooks her Mega Rod from her waist and turns to walk away "You are the first that I have found. Let us hope that we find the others before they get hurt."

Wonder Woman walks with her and shares the sentiment. She was about ready to jump off a cliff into a make-believe battle to the death. Hopefully Red Robin, Spectrum, and Flash were faring better than she did. Which makes her wonder how Barda got free of her vision.

"Barda? How did you free yourself?"

"Whoever made us see those things doesn't know me too well. They tried to show Scott telling me he didn't love me."

"It faded because you didn't believe it?"

Barda chuckles lightly "It stopped after I punched fake Scott in his mouth for having the audacity to tell such a lie."

They share a small laugh before resuming their trek. Whoever put them in this predicament separated them on purpose. If they were going to have any chance they would need to regroup and ultimately get out this jungle.

Wonder Woman notes "This jungle is quite thick for this area. In fact, I don't think its real either. North America does not have such a dense jungle as this one appears to be."

"Hmm" Barda takes aim at a tree and fires a blast at it with her Mega Rod. The tree is cut in half and falls in front of them, now blocking their path. "Seems real enough."

Wonder Woman rolls her eyes at the former fury's brazen decision "That was unwise, you may have just given up our position."

"If we are in some type of magical world that got created to hold us, do you think the creator does not know where we are? Besides, if they know where we are than the fight will come quicker." Barda vaults over the fallen tree and Wonder Woman shakes her head. She did appreciate Barda's straight forward approach, but sometimes found it lacking when more finesse was needed.

"We don't want to fight before we can regroup, we don't even know if the others are okay." Wonder Woman leaps over the tree as well and her concerns are suddenly brought to bear right in front of her.

A menacing voice calls out "Well now you know dear Diana, your allies are far from okay." The owner of said voice is in front of them with Red Robin tightly wound in a magical combination of tree branches and stone. She has purple eyes that match her hair with a green and gold outfit consisting of a strapless dress with knee high boots and sleeves. The sorceress Circe has captured Red Robin, and he is currently unconscious.

Wonder Woman takes a step forward but Circe raises a hand to Robin, letting her magic flow through the appendage as a threat. "Stay right there Diana, you're just where I want you."

Barda slowly begins to move around, attempting to gain a flanking position. Wonder Woman notes that Circe isn't telling Barda to stop, she's just letting her get closer and closer to her flanking spot.

Thunderous stomping then fills the jungle as the ground shakes as if a stampede is coming. A large grey monster bursts through the jungle at Barda. She only has enough time to defend herself as the thing bum rushes her while it roars "Grundy smash!"

Grundy stops and hits Barda hard enough to send her flying through some foliage deeper into the jungle. He keeps rushing after her and disappears, chasing after Barda.

Wonder Woman yells "Barda!" but Circe's threat still holds so she doesn't chase after her.

"You do care for this little bird don't you? Or did I pick the wrong one? There's so few of you heroes nowadays I'm starting to get the dead ones mixed with the alive ones."

"What do you want Circe!"

"That's easy, you. I want to see you broken, bleeding, and crying as your precious island burns. Your sisters will suffer as you will, and your loathsome mother will die by my hand. If you're lucky you may die before I achieve such a thing."

Wonder Woman is now visibly angry and frustrated "Good Diana, give me that headstrong Amazon that I have humbled time and time again. No friends to help you this time."

"It's me you want, release him!"

"No, I'd rather you just surrender before I kill this mortal. I wonder if you would make such a sacrifice, your honor and pride for an innocent."

The sound of rapid footfalls fills the air as a red streak collides with Circe and blows her completely away from Red Robin.

Flash stops a few feet away from Circe and says, "She won't have to."

The separation of Circe from Red Robin allows Wonder Woman to approach quickly and use her gauntlet spikes to cut him free. She sees some of his blood and follows the trail to his knee, which seems to have a wound that has a piece of his cape tightly wrapped around it. Circe curses Flash for his interference and creates a portal to get away. Flash rushes her but he's too late as she disappears into the portal. He makes sure she's gone and not coming around for another attack before rushing back to Wonder Woman and Red Robin.

"Whoa! What happened to his knee? Circe did that?"

Wonder Woman lifts the cape tourniquet slightly to see that there is a bullet hole in Robin's knee. "No, this is someone else's work."

"Last I saw him he was fine."

"You saw him? What about Alan?"

"We were together when we woke up. Then I ran to scout ahead and find an exit. I couldn't find one, so I turned back. Next thing I knew I ran into you."

Wonder Woman is angry with his negligence "You left them alone!"

"We needed an exit!"

"And you didn't think to look for me or Barda?"

Flash goes to respond but reconsiders "Alright I messed up, excuse me for being a little rusty after being on a hamster wheel for 10 years."

She sighs "We need to find Alan and help Barda, Grundy engaged her."

"I'm fine, the monster isn't." Barda emerges from the part of the jungle that Grundy knocked her into "He was receiving the beating of a lifetime, some of my finest work, before he disappeared into a portal."

"Circe did too."

Red Robin is waking up "A-Alan, help Alan. Atrocitus."

Wonder Woman is holding him "Tim! Where's Alan?"

"He's fighting Atrocitus."

The three of them look at each other with concern, Alan was strong, but he wasn't ready to fight someone who was a powerhouse. Any red lantern was difficult to deal with, now Alan was fighting the strongest of any of them. Before they could even form a plan however an annoying buzzing filled the air and suddenly the Flash disappeared before anyone else could react. Barda took up a defensive position with Wonder Woman hovering over Red Robin to keep him safe.

Circe reappears from a portal in front of them with Grundy right behind her, a deviant smile on her face.

"Now, where were we?"

…

Alan woke up in a daze, he felt a sweltering heat radiating around him. As he took in his surroundings he found himself in the middle of a jungle with high reaching trees and grass that was up to his shins. He rubbed his head and blinked a few times to try and clear his vision, but he heard a blood curdling scream that immediately got his attention. As Alan rushed toward the sound he found something that was impossible.

His parents, Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner, were lying on the ground lifeless and towering over them was a being with rocky grey skin surrounded by a dark blue armor. Alan's rage spiked as he knew exactly who it was, the being that killed his parents in an attack on Earth so many years ago. Darkseid was in front of him.

Alan never settled with his grief over his parent's death, he was only 5 when he lost them. He hadn't truly understood why they died, why they were taken away from him. But all of that uncertainty and grief was about to surface now in the form of rage. Red steam began to almost pour out of Alan as he threatened to light the very ground on fire. His clothing turned entirely red besides the black circle in the middle of his top. His eyes were glowing the same red as Darkseid's. When Darkseid finally looked at him with a satisfied grin on his face that was it.

Alan roared into the air as a sharp red fire erupted from his mouth. When it finally ended the scene in front of him was much different. No dead parents, no Darkseid, only Atrocitus.

"What did you do to me!" Alan spits out. He was bound by red chain constructs against a tree and completely immobilized.

Atrocitus strides over to him slowly "I used your mind to find your rage. Now you know what its like, the power you can wield with your rage properly weaponized. The longer you draw on that moment, the more powerful you can become."

"Let me go now!"

"If you become a red lantern" Atrocitus stops in front of him and shows him a red lantern ring "Your power will know no bounds. The guardians fear you and they are right to. Join me and we will overthrow them. With your rage you can strike down everything that has ever harmed you. The Guardians, the green lanterns, Darkseid, none will stand in your way."

Alan really wasn't paying attention to Atrocitus as his rage only grew, Atrocitus felt it grow. He almost became excited at how this prospective red lantern might fare against the Guardians. With so much power in his body Atrocitus had no doubt that Alan was a match for all of them. He underestimated Alan however, much too enraptured in his future success destroying the Guardians than paying attention to the overwhelming rage building in front of him.

"LET. ME. GO!"

Alan unleashes an outward radial blast that levels the tree he is bound to and knocks Atrocitus completely off his feet. Atrocitus recovers quickly, but notices that the red lantern ring in his hand was now broken. _That's impossible, what is this boy?_

He would have no time to consider his question as Alan now charged him and stopped short of rushing him to outstretch his hands and unleash a column of rage fueled energy that trucked its way into Atrocitus. Alan blew him incredibly far away and fell to his hands and knees. His suit lost its red hue and returned to its natural white color. As he held himself up weakly he was panting and shutting his eyes tightly, trying to recover from the intense surge of rage that he just felt.

A soft voice whispers to him, "Get up Alan, this battle is far from over."

Alan looks up and sees a hand extended to him. He looks further up the hand and swears that an angel is about to help him up. But the angel's face is far too familiar to be a stranger. He quickly takes her hand and looks at her in disbelief.

"Mother?"

"Who else would I be?"

Alan embraces her as tears fill his eyes and he struggles to hold back the numerous emotions her presence makes him feel. She returns the hug, gently rubbing his back to calm him and then he hears another voice.

"You got one for your old man too?"

As if out of a dream his Dad is suddenly next to them, arms wide open as he joins the embrace. The happy family is reunited for the first time in decades. But all is not as it seems. Alan can feel them physically but deep in his mind he knows this is not real.

"I've missed you so much" Alan finally chokes out.

"We've missed you too."

Donna says, "You cannot be delayed here Alan, you have to keep fighting."

Alan shakes his head, "I'm not strong enough to beat him, I could barely hold him off before I lost Tim. I cannot win this fight."

Kyle responds, "But Alan, you're holding Atrocitus off now."

"Huh?"

Reality finally filters in and Alan sees a green bubble around himself, Atrocitus is trying to desperately to damage the barrier or brute force his way in. But all his attempts are deflected and ineffective.

"Your will is stronger than you know Alan. And just a quick reminder, Amazons fight till they have no more fight left." His parents end the embrace and he can feel them fading in his mind.

"Do you have to go?

"For now, you have a world to protect Alan. Fight well."

"Oh! Two quick tips!" Kyle exclaims "Get Atrocitus mad and he'll just keep charging you without using constructs. If that fails just remember, blue beats red every day and twice on Sunday."

Kyle and Donna fade away completely before Alan reenters the real world in his mind again. He is standing strong with one arm outstretched that is providing his green dome. The surge of confidence and peace he felt was unimaginable. His parents put him at ease and made him feel powerful with just a few seconds of seeing them again. How he had made them manifest would be a mystery for another time. Right now, he needed to focus on Atrocitus trying to break his shield construct for the second time that day.

This time Atrocitus is unable to make him budge or crack his construct. Atrocitus's frustration peaks and he settles in front of the shield before unleashing a huge cone of rage energy from his ring that engulfs the shield. It endures for multiple seconds before green suddenly penetrates the cone on Atrocitus's end, creating a lane for Alan to travel through. Alan reaches Atrocitus faster than he can react too and punches him in the head making the big red creature to fly backwards into a tree before slumping down it.

"Im-Impossible…" Atrocitus spits out, blood leaving his mouth as he says it "You cannot match my rage!"

"Are you sure?" Alan's all green suit and eyes fade into the same blood red as Atrocitus's body "I think I have enough to even spare you some."

Alan sticks out his hand and lets the rage energy build before saying, "Go back to wherever you came from, or next time I won't show mercy."

Atrocitus begins to roar at him in disgust before Alan releases the energy and it explodes out of his hand, creating an outpouring of red light even above the trees. Atrocitus is sent halfway across the jungle before finally stopping as the energy dissipates. Alan is a little surprised at the outburst, he didn't intend to completely obliterate the jungle with Atrocitus but he feels as if his point was now made. Alan lets his aura turn back to green and lifts himself in the air.

"Thanks Mom and Dad" he thinks while looking up into the sky, "Now let's go save the others."

* * *

 **Author's Note: This chapter is longggg, but I feel like it was necessary. I usually don't like writing more than 5/6k for a chapter because I feel the story tends to drag and lose focus. Just my personal style when it comes to writing but that may change depending on the next few chapters. The fights will likely take up 2 or 3 more chapters, so we will see if I use the same format.**

 **If you were wondering what Robin and Nightwing's fate was, or how Lara may react to her parents being in trouble I'm sorry to disappoint but all that will be covered in the next chapter for sure. All I'll say for now is that our favorite BatDad is about to go through some serious stress so pray for him lol. Also, I've developed a bit of Alan's powers in this chapter, but more explanations will come in later chapters.**

 **I decided to start including a section at the end where I try to respond to reviews. I'm just starting this now, so I'll just start with the most recent chapter's reviews. I really appreciate every review I get but I don't want to do every one I've gotten so far (like 40) cuz that's a lot of responding and I'm basically too behind.**

 **Review Responses**

 **To ButtonPusherExtraordinare: Thank you for the praise and I agree, the Nightwing part is pretty shocking. I was even shocked at myself for putting it in! But you are correct in assuming it will play a larger role in things later. As to whether or not he's dead, you'll just have to find out later.**

 **To anayeli12: Your wish is my command! *cool genie sounds erupt from this chapter***

 **To Anianka35: I'm glad you liked the flashback, I wanted to show the suddenness of Kal's decision and reaction to what was happening. Flashback's are difficult in terms of where to place them, but I'm glad I got the right feeling across. In terms of other flashbacks, I think I may only have one more planned but I really like the idea of writing about the things you suggested. Maybe I'll do a bit of a prequel at some point or some collection of one-shots to show off milestones in Kal and Diana's relationship. Also I'm glad the Flash is back too, but he is going to need some prayers as well. He's about to go through a blender emotionally.**

* * *

 **I want to thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, faving, and following. You're awesome and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

_Vandal Savage's Fortress, Unidentified location_

The interior of this place was daunting, as if it was made to intimidate the strongest and bravest souls. Constructed especially to be a house to the most devilish machinations, Vandal's fortress lived up to its name. There was no record of its construction, no one ever met anyone who built it, and those who saw it rarely lived to tell the tale. You see when Vandal's sole opponent became the Batman, in the most dangerous game of chess ever played, he was ready for it. Batman was impressive, for a mortal, and his legendary status among both heroes and villains alike made Vandal plan for his demise like no other adversary he'd ever face.

But the real power of the Batman was not his muscles or his gadgets, it was his mind. Giving knowledge to Batman was akin to preparing yourself to fail and fail spectacularly. So, Vandal denied him the one thing that set him apart from everyone else. He created such a tight sphere around Batman's cities that the intel and knowledge he received from the outside of the sphere would always be outdated or useless. Then he went to war with Batman. Creating and maintaining an intelligence network is easy when no one is breathing down your neck. But doing it while you're at war? While your trying to protect the only "free" places left in the world? It would prove to be impossible once Vandal unleashed his master stroke.

Then there was the obstacle of dealing with people who had goals similar to his but didn't have near as much patience as Vandal had. Vandal Savage has lived for millennia, and he will live for a million more years with the world under his boot. No one had more patience than him and his moment of total success was at hand, even if a revenge lusted mercenary almost ruined his plan. So now he finally would inform Black Manta of his punishment for ruining his plans for Atlantis and for giving the Batman more information that he needed to subvert Vandal's control.

"Enough Manta! I don't plan on waiting for you any longer!"

Black Manta was chained to a wall, stripped of his armor and weapons, wearing only his wetsuit. His impatience had earned him some time in the brig after his wounds were treated from his tangle with the Atlantean princess.

"Release me or I'll gut you like a fish!"

Vandal was on the outer range of Manta's chained leashes, watching him writhe and fight in discomfort. He likely thought Vandal was there to kill him, so he would fight and die on his feet instead of dying on his knees. After a particular powerful thrust of Manta against his chains, where there was no slack and they were tightly holding him back, Vandal struck him in the gut and placed a dagger against his throat, prompting Manta to stay still.

"Now, do you want to bleed out in this cell or calm down?"

Manta stares coldly into his eyes, no fear of the immortal in front of him, "Bleed me then, I refuse to go down without a fight."

The two stare intensely at each other as Vandal considers the apparently fearless man chained to his wall. And then he lets a grin rise to his face before removing the blade from Manta's throat.

"Oh no, it will not be I that kills you. No matter how much I want to. You'll have something worse to fear than raging Atlanteans if you fail me again."

Black Manta looks at him confused, no one received mercy from Vandal Savage. His allies that betrayed him were cut down before they could finish another thought. His enemies were only allowed to live if Vandal let them. The immortal was ruthless and relentless, but now he was showing mercy?

"You see, your failure created the necessity for me to keep you alive. Isn't it funny how life works out? I planned on killing you in spectacular fashion, publicly, for your failure. But your own incompetence has kept you alive."

Vandal is walking toward the exit and stops with his back toward Manta, "Failing me again will lead to something worse than punishment or death. So clean yourself up, I have other captees to attend to. And this time," He looks back slightly so that Manta can see his scarred face "wait for my signal, or you'll be the one who gets gutted."

* * *

 _Batcave, The last free city of Gotham_

"Bruce!"

Selina's outcry fell on ears that were stuck in preparation mode, he didn't have much time to plan and respond to this crisis but he simply had to. Not only was the Justice League likely under attack, his sons were right in the middle of the danger. Nothing would stop him from reaching them and bringing them back home.

Selina practically shrieks at him, "Bruce just listen for a goddamn second!"

The prototype armor that Bruce was developing was impressive. Interlocking, freely breathing armor plates that separated for agile, acrobatic moves but hardened when under the pressure of any outside force. It had an incredible amount of failsafe mechanisms to prevent anyone from hacking into any subsystem or compromising the armor in any way. It was meant to be the most definitive batsuit to date, but it was not meant for Bruce. This "Beyond" prototype was meant for someone…younger. Someone with the incredible agility and power in their body to fully work the suits specially made systems. Now Bruce would have to test-drive it if he wanted to get to his teams.

"I have to go Selina, I sent them in blind. It's my responsibility to get them out, if they need it."

The onyx black armor starts to link into place greaves, breastplate, and boots lock into the full body system designed to put the augment the users already impressive abilities. And of course, a stylish utility built colored similarly to the rest of the suit with the iconic bat symbol that everyone in the world knew, but this time in red. As Bruce stepped down from the armor's casing, Pennybot checked and fastened every piece to make sure the suit was prepared for what would actually be its first field test. He took the helmet down from its separate casing, praying that all the firmware and software was working at its peak.

Before he placed the helmet, that had filled red eye openings that matched the red bat-symbol on his chest and belt, Selina says "I know! We need to find out if they're okay and bring them back home safely! But, Bruce…please don't go alone. I know how you get, when something goes wrong you put the weight of it on your shoulders and try to fix it yourself. Don't do that this time, take someone with you."

Before he can place the helmet on his head, she grabs him quickly. Holding his face still and placing a quick but meaningful kiss on his lips. "Please, just don't go alone."

Selina's concern was viable. If his teams were under attack, then he needed to respond quickly. But there were three teams out there, Superman by himself, Wonder Woman with her group and likely Wally in tow, and Nightwing with Robin. Superman would likely draw the short stick, he needed his friend to be able to handle himself without any help and he trusted him to do so. Wonder Woman was the same, well-practiced in how to turn a bad situation into a winning one, and she had a capable team with her. If either of them walked into a trap they could more than likely get themselves out. And he thought the same about Nightwing and Robin. Nightwing was a well-trained, experienced member of his family and with Robin at his side they were usually unstoppable. But that didn't stop Bruce's heart from beating quickly when Oracle send they hadn't reported in since arriving to the prison facility.

As Bruce turned his attention to the available members of his team and family, he had a hard decision to make. Jason, Cass, and Stephanie were all capable of helping him wherever he needed to go. But with no way to transport them, they would only slow him down. Lara was young but also been trained under the greatest amazon warriors who had existed, including Wonder Woman herself. But Bruce couldn't thrust her into danger, not when he promised her parents he'd keep her safe. Then there was the newly arrived member, Serenity. A warrior with the power of the seas and impressive strength at her hands. Add on a magical weapon that could harm anyone in the trident, and Bruce found his logical choice.

"Serenity, you're with me. We'll go into this together, but we may have to split to help more than one team. I expect you'll be able to handle yourself."

Serenity rolls her eyes at the comment, "It's insulting that you would insinuate anything else. Let us go quickly, this delays us in dethroning Vandal."

"I'm bringing them back Selina, I won't let anything stop me."

She whispers, "I know." This time with a lengthier kiss, prompting the disapproval of the children in the room. Including Jason.

"Come on! You can make out after we save the world!"

The kiss breaks and Selina begins actively commanding the rest of the troops, she wasn't completely in charge when Bruce had to leave, but her and Oracle worked well enough together to maintain the forces of Gotham. "The rest of you are with me, Oracle call in the Titans. They have to get involved a little more now. Jason, Lara, Steph, and Cass, we're going to secure the perimeter and make sure-"

A quick glance toward the group told her that one was definitely missing. And that quick glance turned into panicked searching throughout the cave as she realized who it was.

"Where is Lara!"

They all look around before Jason says, "I dunno, she was floating right behind us last time I checked."

They were all looking around in vain, because as soon as Lara heard that she wasn't being picked to go she left. If the Batman thought she was going to sit back while her parents were in trouble, he had another thing coming.

"Let's go, we can catch up to her." Bruce walks over to Serenity and places on his cowl.

Steph asks, "Wait, how will you catch up? She can fly with superspeed and stuff."

Jason almost busts out laughing, "Oh this is rich, are you gonna run after her? Or swim with the little mermaid attached to your grappling gun?"

Bruce ignores them and hooks his arms under Serenity's from behind while she was scowling at Jason for calling her little mermaid again. She didn't completely understand the reference, but she assumed it was derogatory. Of course, the surprise on everyone's face was clearly evident as Bruce placed his feet together and his boots revealed themselves to be jet boots that quickly launched him and Serenity into the air toward the exit that lead outside. Practically everyone's jaws were on the floor when Jason finally screamed "What the fuck! He can fly now! I quit until I can fly too."

Everyone is woken from their surprise from Oracle's voice coming through the computer, "Titans incoming Selina, let's make sure everyone has a home to come back to."

* * *

 _Circe's jungle_

The standoff between the two parties was unnerving. Circe was showing the type of patience that Wonder Woman expected. Over all of their battles Circe always preferred to let Wonder Woman make her own mistakes and capitalize on them. But Solomon Grundy? There was no way he would just be sitting and waiting for a fight to begin. All past battles with Grundy were always consistent, headfirst charging, rampant destruction, and saying that damn nursery rhyme. Now, as he stood next to Circe towering over her much smaller frame, he was holding the same patience that Circe had and waiting for Wonder Woman and Barda to act first.

Then there was the matter of Red Robin, suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. The bleeding was stopped, but there was no way he could defend himself from Circe or Grundy. That was the cause of their hesitation, and Barda's growing impatience. Without the Flash to get him to safety, Wonder Woman and Barda would need to focus on protecting him instead of fighting. There weren't many good actions for them to take and being stuck in Circe's playground would make it impossible for them to get away.

"Time's wasting Diana! You'll have to do something sooner or later!"

Circe stood with her arms folded, ready for her adversaries to make the first move no matter what. If they did nothing than the little bird would die, and if they fought her they would lose. Circe would get what she wanted either way.

"Barda." A look between the heroines is all that is needed, getting Red Robin off the field and safe was the only way they could win the fight. That meant someone had to take on Circe and Grundy, alone.

Without hesitance Barda says "Take him Diana, I can hold here."

Diana shouts "Wait!" But Barda has already fired her mega-rod into the dirt in front of Circe, creating a cloud of dust. "Go! Now!" Barda leaps into the cloud of dust, and Wonder Woman has no choice but to go with the hasty actions of Barda. She picks Red Robin up and charges to the sky, the jungle seemed endless but Circe could only create so much space in the vertical direction. As Wonder Woman sped upward she noticed a slight distortion in the sky and stopped before it. She found the edge of Circe's magic.

Meanwhile Barda was successfully keeping Grundy and Circe occupied. The former fury had no trouble keeping Grundy disabled, without his eyes to see he was a lumbering mass swinging into empty space in an effort to hit Barda. Meanwhile Barda and Circe were fighting. Barda attempted to hit Circe as hard as she could, alternating with swings from her fists and mega-rod, but every hit was evaded or blocked by a magical shield from Circe. The cloud of dust Barda created was starting to disperse, but she had just enough time for one more trick. Barda disappeared from the into the dispersing dust cloud to use her enemies against themselves. When she finally bumped into Grundy she hit him sharply with a kick to his back and waited.

Circe calls out, "I should have expected that a disciple of Darkseid would be formidable, but this ends now!" Circe pushes the dust away and up into the air with a single movement. But as the dust starts to fade upward loud booming steps can be heard coming toward Circe. She has almost no time to react as Barda charges at her through the rising cloud and throws up a shield to stop her. To Circe's surprise, Barda leaps above her shield and over her, but the booming is getting louder and closer.

Grundy was right behind Barda and crashed right into the shield, breaking it in addition to throwing Circe to the side. He continues charging and Barda regathers herself to meet him head on. She roars at him as they get closer to each other. The ground cracks underneath them as they collide, locked in a test of strength. Grundy is winning, pushing her backwards into the ground, but Barda is letting him gain momentum again on her terms. She uses his building momentum against him in a powerful throw, vaulting Grundy behind her and into the jungle.

As Barda is engaging Wonder Woman is striking the top of the magical area Circe has created. The underbelly of the barrier is reacting to her blows and her spiked gauntlet, but there is no give. The loud sounds of crashing bring her attention to the jungle where she left Barda to fend for herself. If she can't get out with Red Robin, she has to help Barda. But putting him back down on the ground would expose him to Circe again.

"Diana!" calls a voice behind her, it is Alan imbued in emerald green willpower.

Wonder Woman turns with Red Robin in her arms, "Alan! Are you okay?"

"Yes, what has happened?"

She really doesn't have time to explain, Barda needs her help and Alan can help with Red Robin. "We need to keep Red Robin safe, he needs medical attention for his wound. Can you hold him up here?"

He nods, "Yes, I can try to get us out of here as well." Alan creates a simple table and Wonder Woman places Red Robin flat on it.

Before she flies back down towards the fight, Alan says "Be careful Diana." She gives a simple nod and charges back toward the fight.

Barda has re-engaged Circe on the ground, she is keeping Circe on her toes by varying her strikes with mega-rod blasts to the ground at Circe's feet. Finally, Circe gains control again by placing Barda in a stasis field. Barda was just about to punch her right in the head. Circe wants to retreat again, but Barda is forcing her to focus on the spell by straining against it. Before long, the field begins to break and crack.

Barda roars as she pushes past it to strike Circe, but she is too late. Solomon Grundy is back up and at her back, with one heaving blow he crushes Barda to the ground and pounds on her back and head. Blow after blow lands and the ground cracks. Circe gestures for Grundy to stop after a while and he does.

She stands before Barda with contempt on her face, "Look at me Fury, I wish to see the life drain out of you as you die screaming." Barda tries to get up but she doesn't have the strength anymore. Blood spills from her mouth as she coughs violently.

She eventually gets to one knee before replying, "Go to Hell witch. You'll receive no such pleasures from me."

Circe conjures a ball of pink energy and holds it right in front of Barda "You first.".

If this is her end, then Barda will meet it with her head raised high. She expected to die in battle anyways. Though if you asked her on Apokolips if she would die protecting innocents and her allies she would probably laugh or scowled at you for suggesting such weak actions. But Barda learned from Scott Free that fighting for freedom, love, and the greater good was worth living for. Here she fought to the best of her ability at a disadvantage to protect someone else and was happy to have lived and died for things that set her apart from her former Fury sisters. An honorable end all things considered.

* * *

As Batman flew in the sky with Serenity under him he noted that the thousands of droids outside of Gotham and the surrounding cities did not try to shoot him down upon his exit. Like they were letting him go, which was further evidence that this was a trap. He didn't have much more time to think it over however, as Serenity apparently had enough of flying.

"Put me down now!"

"We're almost there" Batman yelled over the wind, a transparent mask on the cowl covering his mouth.

"Where are we even going!"

"Catching up to Lara!"

"How do you know where she's going!"

"She's right there!"

Lara exited Gotham in spectacular, speedy fashion and headed the direction that her mother went to save the Flash. The eidetic memory she gained from her father was useful in memorizing the different paths. A quick inspection of the route she took might tell her if her mom need her help. She wasted no time coming upon the hole that her cousin, Alan, helped them make that led to a tunnel that went toward the Flash's location. She used her x-ray vision to follow the tunnel until her vision distorted slightly and she found herself looking at what she assumed to be an illusion.

She would have investigated the illusion more, but she picked up a subtle sound coming her way. As she fixed her eyes to the position she saw Batman with Serenity, flying toward her. Lara tried not to get too excited and geek out about the fact that Batman was flying. She needed to face him with a stoic demeanor, with a warrior's determination to fight the battles ahead.

As the two landed behind her, she heard a weapon being unsheathed and Serenity say" Don't ever do that again without my permission or I will impale you!"

Batman simply kept approaching Lara who was pretending to be deep in thought to prepare her resolve.

"I'm not going back, and the only way you'll make me is if you fight me." As he approaches her side and starts looking where she was looking, Lara turns to him with her best Amazonian gaze. "And I wouldn't hold back."

Batman is ignoring her challenge in leu of figuring out why she stopped here, "What did you find?"

Lara's surprise is evident on her face and she says, "You aren't going to try and make me go back?"

"You lucked out, my kryptonite is in my other suit." He grins before replying, "If I can't keep you safe by keeping you in Gotham, then I have to keep you safe out here. Now, what do you see?"

Lara returns her gaze to the underground tunnel, "The tunnel seems cut off, like it was closed. But then I can't see anything else after that. It's distorted."

Serenity adds to the conversation "I can feel the magic from here, what we are seeing is an illusion."

"Batman to all points, respond." He gets nothing in response, not even static. Just an eerie quiet that threatens to unnerve his compatriots.

Until finally a response comes through "Can't really talk right now, fighting-UGH-", the sounds of blows landing and finally a large collision is heard with some silence after.

"Superman?"

"I'll call back when I'm done." Then the communication gets cut abruptly.

Superman is still engaged by the sounds of it, and the other two still aren't responding. Batman knew it was necessary to help all 3 groups, but without knowing how the other two were doing he couldn't decide who needed the most help. While the easiest task should have been getting Linda in Batman's mind, the evidence was piling that they might need the most help from their non-responsiveness.

Batman addresses Serenity, "If there is a magic barrier, can you get through it?"

"Yes, with my magic and the trident it is possible. But it may take time depending on the strength the magic."

A small check on his wrist display shows that there is a small river nearby that should lead into the illusion. "There is a small stream, 3 miles that way. Might help you get in." They all look in the direction, Serenity sees the river and it leads into the distorted area as well.

"When you get in, find the team. Help them get out, follow the stream back out if you need to."

"And where will you go, to Superman?" questions Serenity.

Batman looks in the other direction, toward the Belle Reve prison that Linda was in. Where his sons were supposed to be rescuing her. "Nightwing and Robin still haven't checked in. We need to find them and assist with Linda if they need it."

Lara reasons "I'll go help my father then."

"No, you're with me. I promised I'd keep you safe. If he's in a fight, getting yourself in danger in the middle of it will distract him."

Batman can see the apprehension on her face, she saw three problem and three people to fix them. Why should she listen to him, other than the fact that he's Batman?

"I know you want to help, but your parents trusted me with you. So, I need you to trust me now too. Your Dad can handle himself, but Nightwing and Robin may need serious help. If they don't than we'll find Superman and assist him instead."

Lara relents, her parents were capable and if they trusted Batman as much as Lara knows they did than she can too. "Okay, I'll follow your lead."

Serenity clanks her trident before putting on her back, "It's decided then, may your battles be worthy ones and your victories be swift."

Serenity heads to the stream Batman pointed her toward and Lara enters the air, to wait for Batman to show the way. The two of them fly off toward battles both ongoing and finished, headed into the uncertainty of the situations with the resolve needed to conquer the challenges as they are presented.

* * *

 _Arctic Circle, Fortress of Solitude_

When lighting shoots through the sky it is often followed soon after by the booming sound of thunder. The sound takes time to catch up to the physical sight of light streaking from the sky. But there was no such separation in the Arctic around Superman's fortress. The sound of crackling lightening and booming thunder was instant and ever present. The sky was lighting up with the flash of light and bursts of red. An observer would have thought there two Gods were quarreling in the heavens. Luckily there were no observers because the destruction caused by the meeting of these two could destroy cities.

The fortress inhibited the sound from booming throughout the structure but the force of the strikes being taken and given shook it slightly. The only inhabitant inside that could have felt it was locked in a digital trance. Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian were still incapacitated, as soon as Amazo entered the Fortress' system Brainiac didn't see the point of continuing the charade in the medical bay. Now he had the culmination of a decade of waiting standing in front of him.

The perfect body for him to return to the land of the living, figuratively. Brainiac never died that fateful day against Superman, he can't be killed only subdued or held back. Brainiac knew Luthor's plan would fail but making sure he survived required integrating with powerful technology. Human technology simply wasn't enough to inhabit Brainiac, but Superman's fortress had plenty of ways for him to return to life physically. How ironic it would be for the Kryptonian's fortress to be Brainiac's new home and a vessel for his conscious.

Brainiac's consciousness was transferred to the Fortress via the torpedoes the humans tried to use against the Fortress. They were slightly less effective in destroying Superman's home by Brainiac's design and they allowed him to infect the smaller systems in the Fortress. With Superman's inactivity, Brainiac was allowed to slowly infect the Fortress over time to the point where he controlled all major systems that weren't controlled biometrically. Now his patience paid off in the form of his new body, Amazo.

The android's design was crude and lacking certain efficiencies, but Brainiac would be able to rework the body once he was inserted. As he strode around Amazo like he was appraising a house, Amazo only stood still and gazed at the mainframe.

"You don't seem surprised to see me android."

Amazo replies while still staring forward, almost like he was seeing into the mainframe. "The likelihood of your demise was approximately 10%."

"Yes, the humans are quite arrogant. And Kal-El even more so. He will always fail because in mind he is one of them despite what he is physically."

Amazo's eyes light up, "I suppose I should thank you. Your presence on this planet inspired my creation, as well as your technology."

Brainiac stops in front of Amazo, but he still is looking past him. Brainiac is annoyed at the posturing, he was about to absorb this crude hybrid of technologies. "Do you not plan to resist? You are in the presence of your better. Are you resigned to be overtaken?"

"No, I was looking through the mainframe to find the root of your infection." His eyes return to their white color. Enraged, Brainiac strikes with a black tendril that connects with Amazo but does not move him. A second and third tendril connect and try to spread over Amazo's form.

"Impotent machine! I am beyond you and anything on this pitiful planet! Have you no protocol for self-preservation!?"

Amazo grasps one of the tendrils and pulls it from his body, the shock on Brainiac's face was hilarious but no one was present that understood how funny it was. They were battling digitally inside the Fortress' system mainframe. Amazo passes a signal through the tendril that follows all the way to Brainiac and causes him to yell out in pain. He repeats this process with the other two and Brainiac falls to his knees. Brainiac had rarely felt pain in his existence, a lot of it came at the hands of Kryptonians. But here? In his realm? No one should ever surpass him here.

"How? How can you resist me?"

"Because, in a way, I am you." Amazo walks around Brainiac toward the mainframe, "Your 12th level intellect is redundant to me. I have surpassed you in power and purpose."

"I will not suffer this insolence from an impure amalgamation. You will be mine!" Brainiac gets up to charge Amazo from behind and drive him into the mainframe. Pieces of it break and crack under the pressure of the collision. Amazo morphs his body to turn around and pushes Brainiac off him before throwing one punch that levels him. Brainiac was confused, what happened to him? Why couldn't he overtake this inferior technology? _It doesn't matter, this thing is weak just like Superman. Made by humans, so it will fall before me. I will use the Martians against it and it will give in._

Amazo is searching the mainframe again, but Brainiac stands to his feet. "Submit to my programming or they will die." Amazo's head turns and a screen appears to show the med bay. The temperature in the room was increasing exponentially and fire was surrounding M'gann and J'onn. Both Martians are sweating profusely and seem to be in discomfort even through being unconscious.

Amazo couldn't find Brainiac's infection in the mainframe, and both Martians were in dire straits without receiving further physical and mental stressors. Saving them would be difficult no matter what he tried, but Amazo wouldn't just let them die. So, he stopped looking in the mainframe and reached his arm for Brainiac to take. Tendrils cover the arm and begin infecting his body. Errors are telling him to expel the virus and terminate Brainiac, but Amazo already had a plan that was under way.

 **…**

Superman and Black Adam are locked in a death battle outside the fortress, Adam has rarely held back against a worthy opponent and Superman knows that holding back against him would not end well. They are still in the air, Superman wanted to take the fight away from the Fortress since its defenses were down, but Adam chased him down. They traded blows and evaded each other, Adam's lightning clashed against his heat vision evenly. It took a lot for him to match the magic, but it was worth not being hit by the lightning again.

Superman needed to get back to the Fortress, whatever was wrong he needed to be there to fix it and help J'onn and M'gann. Superman flew higher into the air and shot his heat vision down at Adam. He evaded and called out "SHAZAM!" Superman couldn't move out of the way fast enough and he flew right into the powerful lightning blast, the explosive blast smacks him out of the air. A single form is expelled through the clouds and hits the ground, resulting in a kick up of snow and ice. Black Adam lowers himself to the ice above Superman.

"How pitiful. I thought you would have an edge in this fight, that you would be a challenge. But you haven't learned anything have you?" Black Adam towers above Superman intimidatingly, an opponent that was worth his time and full-on effort. Or so he thought.

"I thought killing Luthor would finally make you see. Give you the motivation you needed to be unstoppable and make the world better. But what did you do instead?" Superman climbs to the ice and stands tall before him. His suit retains scorch marks where the lightning has hit on his chest and back.

"You came here", he raises his arms to gesture around to the Arctic, "to sulk and cry. You became weak again, unwilling to give the world a stern hand and a leader that could protect. I had such hopes for you, but I can see that Vandal was right. You aren't strong enough to truly protect this world, even if that meant protection against itself."

This fight is taking too long and Black Adam is beyond annoying, always preaching that the world needed strong leaders willing to take action. Even if that meant killing people and forcing them to do whatever you wanted. The tyrannical dictator speech was an old one that Superman heard one thousand times before. And this time his patience was gone, replaced by his anger instead.

"Perhaps you are only strong when your family is in danger? Now that you are a father, you know the truest fear that can exist. Fear that someone could destroy the life you created."

The implication of threatening his child, the pure anger that had existed in one scenario where a man ended up dead for doing such a thing. These are the things that took hold of Superman. If Black Adam wanted to die, he was making a good case for Superman to kill him. The pain of the magical Shazam strikes only fueled this anger and his friends needing his help made him feel desperation. The contorted look of anger would have made Superman unrecognizable to most people. But at least one person had seen this look before, Diana. This look on Superman's face was the same that preceded the death of Lex Luthor.

If Black Adam saw the anger on Superman's face, he did nothing to prepare himself for being on the receiving end of it. Within the time of a single blink by Adam, Superman blitzed straight into his chest with his fists hitting him as hard as he could. They were taken some distance away from the Fortress before Superman drove him into the ice. Adam fought back, throwing haymakers to get Superman off him. He tried to gain separation to reset the fight, but Superman was right on top of him. For a while they traded blows, back and forth to each other's head and chest, till Superman caught Adam's hand and crushed it.

Black Adam screamed out in pain as his hand was broken and Superman's eyes glowed red before he unleashed a powerful blast of heat vision. The beam drives Adam away and into the ice again. Superman rushes to Adam again and brings his fist back to punch him, the first thing he sees is the fear on Black Adam's face. The second thing is the beginning of a word Superman is tired of hearing from him. As the beginning of the word is spoken Superman grabs Black Adam. By the time the word comes out he hoists him into the air directly above him.

"SHAZAM!"

The lightning strike brings a loud boom and a cloud of dust just like the others. As it clears there is only Superman standing with a frail old man in his hand. One might even mistake such a being for a corpse or a pile of old dusty bones, but it was none other than Teth Adam in his true form. The form that he had before the Wizard chose him as a champion. Superman only felt pity. A life lived too long, clinging to power that was meant to protect but was abused to destroy. Millenia had gone by since Black Adam ever transformed into his true self. Now this body was so old that he couldn't even utter the word to transform.

Superman held him in the frigid air, trying to decide what to do with him. But a decision was made before he could decide. Teth Adam turned to dust in his hands, fading into the wind particle by particle until there was no sign of his formidable opponent. The rage and anger completely left Superman. Shock and fear took its place. _Did I just kill Black Adam?_

* * *

The river led Serenity to another edge of the area that she thought was an illusion, the water was distorted and her path was blocked. The pressure she applied with her fists and even the powerful flow of the river was not enough. She would have to use her magic. Serenity rose to the top of the water and stood on it, she focused her breathing to calm the river before bringing her trident back out. She used the trident to push forward into the barrier and it gave slightly but did not grant her entry.

Serenity's eyes glow as she channels water up her body and down the length of the trident to apply more pressure to the barrier. It gives again, allowing more of the trident to penetrate and open to her, but it still fights her. As a final measure she channels her own magic through the trident, a magical spell that charges the weapon with Neptune's bolts of energy. The energy builds at her hands where they are placed on the trident until she lets it lose toward the barrier.

The opening grows until she can finally fit through and she sends a column of water with her in the middle of it to enter the illusion. Once she's on the other side she exits the river and nots the scenery has completely changed. Before she entered she was in a grass clearing with a small forest surrounded by mountain ranges. Now she was in the middle of the jungle and her well trained sense told her the place was magical in nature. The amount of area she would have to cover was immense and she did not have the patience to search every inch of this place. But with a seemingly large and endless water source right next to her an idea began to form that would help her cover every inch of this place in a few minutes.

 **…**

Wonder Woman dove from the skies toward the battle, Barda was on her knees and surrounded by Circe and Grundy. Circe was about to deal the finishing blow to a beaten Barda on the ground. That was unacceptable. She charged forward and took her lasso in hand and, as she came close enough, Wonder Woman tossed it to loop around Circe's extended arm. As it finds it mark, Circe is about to release the ball of deadly magic at Barda but Wonder Woman pulls her arm up quickly, and the energy releases above Barda. Circe is lifted off her feet into the air as the energy connects with Grundy and he roars in pain as he is launched into the jungle.

Wonder Woman brings Circe up into the air quickly and above her head before violently slamming her into the ground far away from Barda. She rushes to her friend quickly, Barda is covered in bruises and coughs up blood before she arrives in front of her.

"Barda!"

"I'm -cough- fine…the witch is not done, finish the fight. D-don't concern yourself with me." Barda grabs her side as she coughs again. Wonder Woman can tell she's in pain and knows she probably shouldn't leave her, but Circe wasn't going to go down so easily.

A familiar growling comes from behind her and Wonder Woman turns to see a multitude of creatures coming out of the jungle, Circe's Beastiamorphs. The monsters Circe conjured were immortal men turned into monsters, they were endless and undying. Circe's own private army filled the jungle around Barda and Wonder Woman, Circe was really pulling out all the tricks for this encounter.

"Barda…"

"I can't Boomtube us out", Barda rises to her feet unsteadily while leaning on her weapon. "We fight to the death Diana, no surrender."

Wonder Woman is looking through the crowd of monstrous beings, searching for Circe. "We aren't dying here." Finally, Circe appeared above the mass, hovering above everyone and cackling madly. "She controls them, they don't feel pain or fear death. Our only chance is to knock her out."

Barda squints her bruised eye at Circe, picking her small form out of the expansive sky. "Throw me."

"What?" Wonder Woman doesn't break her sight from a particularly large bestiamorph clearing through the mob, knocking the others over to get to them.

"I'm dead weight against this horde Diana, my arm is broken, and I can barely see. The longer this goes on the worse our chances get. I can distract her long enough for you to take her out."

The large beastiamorph, in the image of a minotaur, charges at them. All the others take his charge as motivation to join, the jungle shakes under the feet of the horde of monsters. It's a terrible plan, but Barda is right. They would be overwhelmed before they could ever get to Circe. A quick movement allowed her to grab Barda by the collar on her armor and launch into the sky. She flies away from the horde and they chase on the ground while Circe is in the air pursuing them.

Wonder Woman shouts "Get Ready!" before swinging them around and using their built momentum to throw Barda at Circe. She launches the large New God at Circe in a move that was surprising to her simply because of how dumb it was.

It gave Circe enough pause for her to stop in mid-air and try to throw up a shield, but Barda lowered her shoulder into Circe and they crash into the ground. The horde stops and tries to return to Circe. Wonder Woman is attempting to catch up and provide backup, but something gives her pause. Barda goes for a knockout blow on Circe with her mega-rod.

 **BANG. BANG. BANG.**

Three separate shots ring over the stampeded of monsters, Wonder Woman has to block the first two with her gauntlets. Both would have been headshots. But the third never came toward her. The horde isn't stopping, and Wonder Woman rushes to where they fell through the trees. Circe is gone, but Barda is lying on the jungle floor face down. Wonder Woman rushes to here, the horde of beastiamorphs is closing on them.

Barda is in seething pain clutching at her shoulder, upon inspection she notices blood coming out of the hole Barda was covering. Somehow, she was shot through her armor, no regular weapon should be able to penetrate Apokoliptian armor. Barda was holding in her scream, whatever hit her burned right through the armor and she felt enough pain to be reminded of her early days on Apocalypse.

Wonder Woman doesn't have time, she has to run and fight or she has to grab Barda and fly away. The decision is made for her when the minotaur beastiamorph comes stomping right behind her. In one fluid motion Wonder Woman unlatches her lasso and swings in a wide arc to strike the charging minotaur in the chest. The strike cuts its chest and stops it right in its tracks before it roars in pain. The rest of the beastiamorphs close on her, she strikes the first with everything she has. The beastiamorphs continue to swarm Wonder Woman and she dispatches them one by one and two by two when necessary. Wonder Woman uses the lasso to bind a group of beastiamorphs to toss into the fray. The giant minotaur one collides with her and knocks her back, making her drop the lasso.

Wonder Woman gets back to her feet and throws a hard punch right to its jaw that floors it. She sweeps the leg of a beastiamorph and sends it into the crowd with a powerful kick. The horde is closing on her, there's no more space to kick. She can only throw beastiamorphs off her as the close in to try and restrain her for Circe. Eventually she is held by so many that she can't move. But still she fights on, struggling to move her arms until she frees them just enough by throwing two beastiamorphs off her. Wonder Woman connects the gauntlets together to create a concussive blast that throws the horde away from her. But the momentary freedom is short lived as a collection of vines, wood, and stone collide against her body. Circe is constricting her with the materials around and encasing her in a solid body cast that only leaves her head exposed.

The horde collects around her, gnawing and biting at her until they make way for Circe who approaches her leisurely. Circe has a few marks on her and is slightly covered in dirt.

"Well that was fun, but I am on a bit of a schedule dear Diana." Circe goes to caress Wonder Woman's face, but she pulls away as far as she could. Circe takes hold of her immobilized head before continuing, "Now you're going to tell me everything I need to know to make your precious little island burn." A few beastiamorphs emerge from the group with Barda and the lasso of truth. Circe menacingly says, "But first, you're going to tell me where your daughter is."

* * *

As Batman flew toward the Belle Reeve Prison with Lara, he immediately noted the increased presence of automated guards and drones as they got closer. He led Lara toward the parked Batwing that Nightwing and Robin took to get here. No matter what they found in the prison, the Batwing would be needed for transport. A short retrace of Nightwing and Robin's path led them to a series of vents and openings, when they finally arrived at an open area it was filled with guard droids. The risk of being overwhelmed by these forces was high and they still needed to find out what happened to the original team.

Eventually they ended the path in a hallway. It was quiet, and the clanking of heavy metallic footsteps was absent from the area they were in now. As the two slunk and slid their way through the corridor, they came upon the first patrol that would be in their way.

As the patrol marched in their direction, Lara whispers "What do we do?"

"I'll handle this" responds Batman gruffly.

Lara takes another peak around the corner and turns to say "But I want to-" but Batman has already disappeared. Normally people got annoyed when Batman disappeared and left them behind, but Lara was silently freaking out that she just was a recipient of the patented bat-vanish. A few seconds later she heard metal crashing against metal and rushed to look around the corner as Batman skillfully targeted each droid's "brain" with an electrical device that neutralized all five of them. As each droid fell to the ground, Lara rushed from behind her hiding spot to join Batman only to see he was standing deathly still and staring away from her direction.

"What's wrong" asks Lara as she rushes to his side. Lara gasps audibly as she sees what caused Batman to pause.

A smear of blood is on the wall, along with a small sliver of a hole. But what caused the two to react was the body on the floor, perched against the wall with its head down. The black and blue suit was enough to tell them who it was, but Batman couldn't believe his eyes. As he staggered forward on autopilot he knelt next to the body slowly. He raised his hand to feel the neck of the motionless body and found that there was no pulse. Then he rose the head, if only to confirm what his eyes were seeing. The body was Nightwing, and he was dead. The shock, pain, anger, and sadness would have overtaken a normal person. To see your son dead, surrounded by a puddle of his own dried blood. No one would have faulted him for crying out in anguish.

As Batman knelt next to Nightwing's body Lara approached slowly. Nightwing, the first Robin, was there before them. An open wound on his stomach and the sword placed next to him showed that he had been stabbed. Upon further inspection Lara noticed that the sword was identical to the one Robin used. All of this was too much, Lara never saw a dead body before. Her sisters on Themyscira were immortal and any battles they fought were usually won by their well-trained army. She could feel the mix of emotions pouring from Batman as his head fell. She would have comforted him, but her hearing picked up the clanking of droids coming toward them.

Even as she called to him "Batman!" he couldn't hear her. The only thing that was on his mind was Dick and how he failed him. Lara had to act, she was sure the droids would sound an alarm if they found them. She waited around a corner for them to arrive and took a deep breath. Her mother had begun teaching her to dispatch enemies quickly with her super speed. But she often lost track of how many there were in her haste. Lara noted that Batman used his tech to attack their heads, so she decided to do the same.

Before she could count how many droids they were right next to her, the first droid was punched by her in the head and thrown against the one it was marching beside. Lara proceeded to use a spinning kick to take the head off the next droid in line followed by a flipping kick that crushed the droid beside it completely to the ground. The last one standing received Lara's fist through its head right as it was going to shoot its lasers at her. None of them were left standing now.

Batman was frozen, paralyzed with the feeling of failure. Seeing Nightwing dead, bled out in the middle of this prison, was crippling to his psyche. He couldn't help but feel responsible for his son's death in this place. He felt helpless to save him just as he had been helpless to save his parents. The sound of metal being crushed gained his attention and he turned to see droids being dismantled by Lara, but she missed one.

Just as Lara punched through the "last" droid's head, the droid that was thrown into a wall after the first's head was destroyed was aiming its laser at Lara. Batman reacted on instinct to throw an explosive batarangs at the droid that was sitting on top of it. Right as the batarangs hit the droid shot its laser at Lara just before the explosion went off. He knew Lara had been hit by the telltale "Aahh!" that came from her before she fell to the ground. Batman quickly raced over to see Lara on the ground clutching her arm as blood was coming out.

"I'm fine, I dodged it mostly" says Lara reflexively.

Batman moves her hand and sees she wasn't just saying it was nothing. She had a small cut on her arm from where the laser hit, and it was bleeding a little. Lara sat up and Batman cleaned the cut before bandaging it. The two of them stood in silence before Batman spoke.

"We need to move; more patrols will come and whoever did this…they might come back. Let's see what we can figure out about what happened and take the plane to regroup."

Lara nodded and they both turned to go back to Nightwing's body. Both of them stood in place as they turned around as the body was gone. They looked around, but it had simply disappeared. Then clay shot down from the ceiling between them and sent them down the hallway on opposite sides. Clayface had them both trapped against the wall on the opposite sides.

A misformed face full of clay appears in front of him and opens its mouth with strings of clay hanging from top to bottom, "Miss me Batman?"

Batman's suit locked reflexively as Clayface tried to insert himself inside the suit, sending small sparks of electricity against the clay that was attempting to penetrate his defenses. Batman wasn't panicking, but he couldn't get to the utility belt and Clayface had him pinned with solid clay while trying to get inside his suit. He needed to get out to help Lara and was worried about her since he couldn't see or hear her.

In contrast, Lara was completely panicking. She tried punching Clayface but the clay had no give, nothing solid for her to hit. The force of his clay was pressing against her and pinning her. That was when it got worst. Clayface was trying to get inside her, through her mouth and nose, to get to her lungs. Lara thought she was going to suffocate. The terrifying sensation of having something be poured into you took over her. Lara's eyes opened wide and burned a hot red color. Clayface was about to endure something Superman's enemies had come to loathe. A full-on blast of heat vision.

At first her heat vision melted the clay around her, but as the beam glows hotter and expands it starts to push the clay back. On the other end Clayface is too enraptured trying to kill Batman to notice that his clay is being incinerated and turned to dust on the other end. By the time he notices it the heat vision beam has engulfed the entire hallway and is burning Clayface away. Batman sees the shocked look on Clayface before he fades to dust.

Batman falls to the ground roughly and gets to his feet quickly. Lara is on the other end, coughing and hacking up burnt clay with her eyes watering. She's trying to remember her training, calm her breathing, focus on what's around her and be aware of her surroundings. But as she opens eyes she realizes it's still dark, she can't see.

Batman asks "Lara, are you okay?" while he helps her up.

"I'm sorry" Lara realizes she might have hurt Batman, she just lost control of one of her most powerful abilities. She could have incinerated him and not even known it. "I-It was in my mouth and n-nose. I couldn't get it out and…I'm so sorry."

Batman didn't have much time to consider what just happened. Clayface was incredibly hard to stop let alone kill. He would likely still be able to regenerate from dust, but there was a small chance Lara had done the deed. Not to mention that she was only 10 and had enough power in her heat vision to do such a thing. He would be concerned about that later, for now they needed to get out of this prison.

"It's alright, can you walk?" He notices Lara is just staring at the ground, not looking around at all.

"Yes, but…I can't see." This was the third injury that Batman saw of Lara's, very peculiar that she seemed to have her parents' powers but not their invulnerability or healing.

"I'll help you, come on." Batman leads her to the area where the body was to get a sample of blood. He also collects the sword on his way back to her. Batman turns to get Lara and leave, but now she is looking around. Lara can hear something, and it's not the metal marching of the world government droids.

"I hear a heartbeat." She can't see the semi-shocked look on Batman's face. Belle Reeve was lined with lead, a precaution against Superman and anybody else that had prying eyes or ears.

He looks in the same direction as her "Are you positive?"

Lara nods and he grabs her hand to lead her. They travel down the hallway, away from their exit, before coming upon a series of rooms. They go past the first and stop at the second.

"Behind this one Batman, I hear someone."

Batman tries to scan the room, but his sensors aren't penetrating past the door. "Get behind me" he says as he prepares to open the door, hoping to find one of his sons behind the mystery door.

* * *

Wally West wanted to be the Flash all his life. From the first time he saw the Scarlet Speedster in Central City, he knew what he wanted to be. A hero. And, despite the odds, his dreams came true. Not only did he get to meet the current Flash at the time, he got to run and fight alongside him. Two heroes that used their gifts, given by the speedforce, to save whoever they could and fight against villainy. As Kid Flash Wally thought his life couldn't get any better. Especially when he got to meet other young heroes like him in the form of the Titans. But tragedy struck Wally and his mentor Barry Allen, when Barry sacrificed himself to save the universe.

No one even knew that Barry Allen died to save the entire universe from destruction, no one except Wally and others who were close to Barry. It is a solemn cross to bear, to have someone close to you die and not be able to speak on it. But Wally stayed strong and, in grandiose fashion, became the Flash in honor of Barry Allen's sacrifice. With the new name he gained a new team, the Justice League.

Despite the grief he still felt with Barry's death, Wally still found a way to brighten peoples lives with his own humorous and infectious personality. Being the youngest Justice League member was intimidating but receiving a nod and recommendation from Superman would boost anyone's confidence. Superman filled the gap of 'mentor' in Wally West's life, the place Barry Allen held formerly. What would Big Blue do? Became Wally's go to thought whenever he was in a bind.

But when Superman took a life, when he killed in front of the world, everything changed. All the sudden his hero was public enemy number one, even though he did what anyone would have done. How was Superman supposed to react when Diana and Lara's lives were on the line? But Wally was an optimist, he tried to make the best of things. The League disbanded under pressure from the United Nations, which would eventually condense to be the single solitary government to rule the world. Wally didn't know what to do in the face of sanctions that made it necessary to register as hero to be able to use your powers. He couldn't just stop helping people. Barry Allen wouldn't do that, and neither would Superman.

In hindsight Wally would have listened to Batman, he would have went underground and not registered. Now everything was a mess. He had just been freed by Wonder Woman and now they were in some magical jungle that was endless. He didn't know where Linda, his wife, was and she was supposed to be getting saved too. But Wally's mind drifted to her constantly. He knew Vandal would kill her as retribution for him being saved. All of this was made worse by the fact that they were also were under attack by Circe, Solomon Grundy, and Atrocitus. The day couldn't really get worse right? Wrong.

The first indication that everything got a million times worse was the incessant buzzing in the air. Not like bees, but like an intense vibration, something going so fast that the Flash could barely make out the separate steps the person was taking. The second indication was blur of yellow he saw right before it grabbed him and slammed him into a tree a mile away from Wonder Woman, Barda, and Red Robin. His recovery was quick, but the blur was gone.

A vibrating voice calls out around him "I hope you haven't forgotten me Flash. We have so much work to do still."

The voice is menacing and horrifically familiar, it's the voice of Zoom. Zoom aka Hunter Solomon had one wish in life, to prevent tragedy from occurring to anyone else like it did him. But Hunter was no hero, how could he save the lives of others? The only logical conclusion, in his mind, was that he needed to make his friend better. Wally and Hunter were friends once upon a time, before Hunter lost the use of his legs. Hunter begged and pleaded with the Flash to go back in time to prevent the tragedy that robbed him of his mobility. But Flash refused.

Now he would make sure the tragedy happened to nobody else, by making the Flash better. He had to teach him that nothing was forbidden when defending innocent people. The lives of criminals and killers never superseded the life of those who were just trying to live there lives. And he only knew one way to push him. By attacking the people close to him. He had made it his duty to put people in harm's way around the Flash, and to never stop until he took the necessary steps to stop him. Wally had stopped him before, but he hadn't learned his lesson. Now he would learn it, or his precious Linda would die.

"Did you miss me?" Zoom stands in front of the Flash, his costume easily the reverse of Flash's. A yellow bodysuit with red lightning instead of yellow.

"What do you want Zoom? I don't have time for your games." Flash's adrenaline is spiking, if Zoom is involved then the stakes are so much higher. Zoom always made it personal for Flash, he would go for Linda without a second thought and Flash knew it.

"Is that what you think this is" Zoom looks around and gestures to the jungle they are in, "this is a game to you? That must be why you don't take me seriously. You don't think I'll kill her to prove my point."

Just the mention of it causes the speedforce to spike around the Flash, pure lightening lighting around him. Like a car revving up, waiting for go signal. "Don't you dare touch Linda!"

"Or what? You'll have me locked up? Things have changed Flash, there aren't anymore prisons to hold me in and trapping me in the speedforce won't work again. There's only one way you stop me this time. Only one way for you to protect Linda from me."

This will be a deadly race, Zoom has set the terms. The winner will have to kill to seal the victory. Zoom had hurt Linda before, which resulted in Flash trapping him into the speedforce. He felt the pressure seconds before they started, while staring at each other and daring the other to make the first move, to try to find a way to stop Zoom. He couldn't just kill him. And then it began.

Within one blink they exited the jungle promptly, exposing themselves to the elements outside of Circe's magical trap. Both of them were moving too fast to take into consideration where they were. Flash chased Zoom across the world, always one step from reaching him before Zoom seemed to find another burst to evade him with. Then the tables were turned on him. Punches were thrown, he slammed Zoom into a wall, threw a few punches and Zoom responded with his own barrage. Somehow Zoom as faster than before. He could barely catch him; how could he stop Zoom? The battle stopped and started in between moments. Zoom chasing Flash, Flash chasing Zoom, with Zoom getting the better of him every time.

For the first time since he saved a city from a nuclear bomb, Wally felt tired. He felt like his legs were heavy logs that he couldn't lift anymore. He desperately chased after Zoom, trying to cut him off once more, only for Zoom to stop suddenly and trip him. They were in the Grand Canyon, the sun was baring down on them both. Unbearable heat only added to Flash's exhaustion, he needed time to rest. To recover from running non-stop for almost 10 years. The realization came painfully with Zoom's knee upside his head. As Wally laid on the ground, gasping for air, he realized he couldn't stop Zoom.

"Come on! Get up! Don't lose her like this. On your back, gasping for air." Zoom stopped right before Flash, taunting him "This is what happens when you stop being a hero, when you give in to those ideals that you thought would save you. How can you protect the world if you can't even protect the woman you love?"

Flash crawls to his knees, uses a nearby rock to bring himself back to his feet. His second wind isn't coming and no one is there to save him.

"Barry Allen would be so disappointed in you. This is what happens when heroes fail." The finality of the statement is punctuated by Zoom's quick footfalls, Wally is going to fail…again. He failed the world when he didn't keep the Justice League together after Superman was ostracized. He failed again when he worked for and got captured by the same people who were ruining the world now. Now his failure would be complete with Linda's death. All because he was too slow to stop what was coming.

But he couldn't give up, if Barry taught him anything it was that when things got tough there was only one thing Wally should do _. "Always remember to put one foot in front of the other. When everything is crumbling you have to keep going. You have to keep running or the world will pass you by. Always remember that Wally."_ The voice of Barry Allen rung clear as day, this was the last thing Barry told him before he died. One foot in front of the other.

The speedforce spikes and he is running again, Zoom is out of the canyon already. He needs two steps for every one that Zoom's putting in. Wally has to push, there isn't any other option. Linda won't suffer because of him. If anyone can take the punishment, it's the Flash. Three steps for every one step Zoom took, now he's closing but it isn't enough. They are close to the prison, Belle Reeve, Flash thinks it must be where Linda is.

He needs more, he has no choice but to catch Zoom and stop him no matter what. So, he finds another gear. Four steps for Zoom's one, five steps, he's gaining and they're just outside the prison. He must stop him now, can't let him get close to Linda. He feels the speedforce screaming throughout his body, he's going too fast but it doesn't matter. _Stop Zoom_ **.** Flash is chanting it in his mind, he might tear his body going this fast, but he can't stop now. _Save Linda, Stop Zoom._

They enter the prison, tearing through any guards or structures in their way. He's catching Zoom now, up to ten steps for Zoom's one, right on his heels and closing. The speedforce cackles around him, he's sure there is burnt ground in his wake. But they enter the final hallway and Flash knows instinctively that this is it. Right before they turn the corner Flash sticks his hand out to stop him. _Stop Zoom, Save Linda._

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks for reading and sorry for the delay. I've gotten busier and busier as the year goes by. But I'm still writing when I can. Lots of cliffhangers in this chapter which I know is kind of frustrating, but I'm hoping I can get the next chapter out quicker so you'll know what happens. As always, thank you for the reviews, favs, and follows. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Review Responses**

 **To jdcocoagirl: I'm glad it's keeping your attention! I'm really enjoying the more action centered writing and I'm learning a lot from it as well.**

 **To Anianka35: I hope it keeps developing well myself. Some of the extra time I'm taking is to read back and make sure I'm still on track. I'm glad you keep following the story!**

 **To SuperWonderStan: Lara is definitely my favorite of the "newer" characters. Since she is so young her personality can change but I've tried to develop the more "mature" side along with the "10-year-old that loves life" side. Basically, she has a sort of dual personality thing which will get touched on more as things get more intense. The chapter length always concerns me, but I think I've learned a bit about describing scenery better and developing characters enough to write lengthier chapters. I'm glad to know you like the story and are entertained by it. Stay tuned! There is much more to come!**


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